A young eagle was found near the Valley of Fire western park boundaries on Thursday. The bird was in distress from hot temperatures.

By Vernon Robison

Moapa Valley Progress

A wild golden eagle was found and rescued near the roadway just outside the western border of Valley of Fire State Park on Thursday afternoon, June 16. The young eagle was discovered in the early afternoon by park visitors travelling the road. The visitors reported the eagle to rangers at the Park Visitor’s Center who responded to the scene and captured the bird.

“People passing by saw it alongside the road, obviously in trouble,” said Park Ranger Amber Heman. “They would stop and see what they could do, but then the bird would crawl under their car looking for shade. Of course, then what do you do once it’s under there?”

Heman was the one who responded to the scene. She said it was no problem getting the bird into a container. “It was in pretty bad shape,” she said. “It didn’t put up a fight at all.”

“It is very seldom that we see eagles in the park at this time of year,” Heman said. “They usually stay down at the Lake closer to the water. But this one was very young and probably lost its way.”

She brought the eagle back to the Visitor Center offices where she tried to cool the bird down. Rangers initially thought that the eagle had a broken wing caused by a possible encounter with a vehicle on the road. But as it started to recover Heman said that she wasn’t sure if there was actually an injury or if the bird was just overheated.

Park officials called the Nevada Department of Wildlife who sent specialists out to the park on Friday to pick up the bird. They took it in to North Las Vegas Animal Center for treatment and care.

“Based on its activity today it appears that it may have just gotten dehydrated and overheated and will most likely be re-released in the near future,” Heman wrote in an email on Friday afternoon.