Bald eagle dies days after being rescued from ice floe in Waukegan Harbor
WILLOWBROOK, Ill. (CBS) -- A bald eagle has died, four days after being rescued from in ice floe in Waukegan Harbor.
CBS 2 received the sad update on Thursday from the Chicago Bird Collision Monitors.
It was just 12 hours into the New Year on Sunday when a team from the Chicago Bird Collision Monitors went out to rescue the 3-year-old bald eagle.
James Tibensky went out in a kayak to ferry the bird to shore. He pushed the piece of ice across the harbor with his kayak. At the shore, other volunteers with nets brought the eagle to a warm car.
The eagle was taken to the Willowbrook Wildlife Center clinic. Experts said the bird was thin, wet, exhausted and disheveled upon arrival.
Tests were conducted to determine what made the bird sick. Lead poisoning is often the cause of the symptoms the bird was experiencing.
The bald eagle was once on the doorstep of extinction. There are far more of them now than there were just 10 years ago.