The life of a retired bald eagle
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 Challenger is 34 years old.
00:02 He thinks he's more human versus bird.
00:05 He doesn't see another bald eagle as the same as him.
00:07 Good morning.
00:09 I'm Bailey with the American Eagle Foundation
00:11 and this is Challenger's story for GeoBeats.
00:13 As a baby, he fell out of his nest during a storm,
00:16 sadly, in 1989 in Louisiana.
00:18 He was rescued by some well-meaning people
00:21 who raised him and hand-fed him about three to four weeks.
00:25 But during that process, with too much human contact,
00:27 he became very imprinted as a baby.
00:30 He actually thinks that we're the same species as him.
00:33 Challenger was then transported to the Audubon Zoo
00:37 where they did do some rehabilitation
00:39 and they did re-release him,
00:40 but in the span of a summer,
00:42 he was found three times begging for food from humans again.
00:45 He was deemed non-releasable
00:48 because he could not survive and hunt on his own in the wild
00:51 so wildlife agencies did transfer Challenger at that point
00:54 to the American Eagle Foundation.
00:56 The American Eagle Foundation is a nonprofit organization
00:59 located in Kodak, Tennessee,
01:01 that is dedicated to educating, protecting,
01:03 and conserving all birds of prey.
01:05 Challenger became trained to become an educational ambassador.
01:09 He became the first bald eagle in U.S. history
01:12 trained to free-fly in major sports stadiums,
01:14 arenas, and ballrooms.
01:16 He was also at the Endangered Species Act
01:21 bald eagle delisting ceremony at the White House.
01:23 But now Challenger has retired from free-flight appearances
01:26 due to his age and his cataracts
01:28 that have developed in both eyes.
01:30 He does spend a lot of his time
01:32 at the American Eagle Foundation.
01:34 He bathes daily all the time.
01:36 After we feed him, usually he'll hop right into his tub.
01:39 Challenger is one of our bald eagles
01:41 that really enjoys stuffed animals.
01:43 Every enrichment is used in a way to help
01:50 with something of a natural behavior
01:52 that they would have in the wild.
01:53 So we have the foraging ones where they can shred toys
01:56 in search for food.
01:57 We're gearing up for some travel.
01:59 We do still occasionally do traveling from coast to coast.
02:02 When traveling with Challenger,
02:04 we fly with Southwest Airlines.
02:06 We have special kennels that we have.
02:08 We do get a lot of questions about this big black fox
02:11 that we have with us.
02:13 He does come out at the airport for security.
02:15 They'll do some swabs of the kennel
02:17 and we'll have him out while they do that.
02:21 What?
02:22 He travels with two humans at all times
02:27 and we'll sit in the front row of the plane with him.
02:30 Challenger is by no means a pet.
02:32 We have to respect that he is a wild animal,
02:35 but we have developed a trusting partnership with Challenger.
02:38 Every day he's given full choice,
02:40 whether he wants to interact with us or not,
02:42 and we'll respect whatever decision he does make.
02:45 I am one of his primary caretakers.
02:47 I've worked with him for about three years now.
02:49 In the beginning, you're always just like,
02:50 "There's a really big bird beside me,"
02:52 but now that I've learned his behavior,
02:54 it's not too big of a deal anymore.
02:56 Beaking is a behavior that most birds actually display.
03:00 So once Challenger's done eating food,
03:03 he gets little pieces of food still stuck on his face
03:05 and he'll find something that's near him
03:07 that he can take his beak and rub it on
03:08 to help clean off his face.
03:10 Bald eagles obviously aren't bald.
03:13 The word bald is actually a word that refers
03:16 to a Middle English word that means white-headed,
03:19 and that is in reference to,
03:21 at about four to five years of age,
03:23 bald eagles will slowly gain that white head and white tail.
03:26 As juveniles, they're all brown.
03:28 Challenger weighs about six pounds.
03:30 He's on the small end of bald eagles.
03:32 Male bald eagles are always smaller
03:35 than a female bald eagle.
03:36 Challenger is completely healthy
03:42 besides the human imprinting part of him.
03:44 We have some wild bald eagles that fly over our facility,
03:47 and you'll hear him calling out to them,
03:49 just chattering and yelling at them sometimes.
03:51 Bald eagles' lifespans in the wild are 20 to 25 years.
03:57 While under human care,
03:58 they can double that to about 40 to 45 years.
04:01 (eagle screeching)
04:04 (upbeat music)
04:06 (upbeat music)