Our thanks to Peter Hemer from Bungalow 108 for this report on an injured Tawny eagle.
"We were taking a round about drive to Bird hide via the Argyle reservoir. As we left, we went down the westward loop road and spotted what looked like a large pile of elephant dung at the end of the road. We thought it looked odd and checked it out with binoculars to see it was a Tawny eagle on the ground.
Initially it looked like it was mantleing over some prey it had caught. We moved forward slowly and other than head movement the bird didn’t budge. We went closer and finally we could see wire around its legs. I took a picture so we could zoom in and see better. We then called it in asking for ranger assistance. This was approximately 09:00. We stayed with the bird so that it would be easier for any rescuer to find us.
It became apparent the longer we stayed with it that it was getting very hot and after about 15min it started to struggle and flap and managed to get itself to the nearby long grass. It then shuffled around appearing to try find some shade for itself. It was quite disturbing to watch. We also realised that if the bird had been in the grass we would never have seen it.
Walter and John arrived around 9:30 with a blanket and wire cutters and went about covering the bird before cutting the wire loose. The wire remains a mystery but possibly came from the Tawny trying steal some other poached prey and getting trapped itself. Once the legs were free we could see its right leg was badly cut and the talons moving much less than the left leg. John and Walter said they would get it to Moholoholo.
I made contact with the rehab centre to see what had transpired and received the following response and photos:
'The tawny eagle is on very strong antibiotics and painkillers at the moment. We do physio on his legs 3-4 times a day. He is very strong in himself, eating well and a fighter!
As far as the cuts on the legs goes, the one leg is fully functional, but the other one is still a bit weak but think it will just need some time.
Thank you again for bringing the bird in!!' "
Text and photos by Peter Hemer and Moholoholo