For the second time in as many years, a large number of eagles have been poisoned, likely by a toxic animal carcass.
The birds began pouring into a veterinary hospital on Sunday, after a member of the public noticed one of them in distress at the Nanaimo Landfill.
Bird group “The Raptors” stepped in and scoured the landfill and surrounding area, finding 10 of the distressed animals.
Nanaimo’s landfill actually has strict rules around disposing of euthanized animal carcasses.
It was not immediately clear how this carcass made its way into the dump.
“We have a policy, it’s called controlled waste,” said Jane Hamilton, the landfill’s operations superintendent.
“Under our bylaw, you must make an appointment, we bring a machine down and bury it right away,”
The birds were treated by Dr. Ken Langelier at the VCA Canada Island Animal Hospital.
He cleared any uneaten material from the birds’ crops, then tube-fed activated charcoal to the animals.
“Slowly, all but one have come around,” Langelier said. “It’s just always sad to see them have to go through this.”
In January 2019, Langelier was called upon to try and save a dozen bald eagles after another suspected carcass-related poisoning.
In that case, six of the birds died.
Eagles are hard up for a good meal in the winter, Langelier said, and are not above scavenging — making a fresh carcass an attractive but deadly meal.
“This is almost number 50 for me in my career … barbiturate-poisoned eagles. I’ll be happy to never see one again.”
This year, the mortality rate was far lower than in 2019, with just one of the birds having died, Radcliffe said.
“I think it’s pretty amazing that nine of them are still alive and most of them are doing well. In fact, we were able to release three of them yesterday,” she said.
But with the repeat occurrence, she said it’s time to implement better messaging around proper disposal of animals.
Radcliffe said she’d like to see literature handed out to people when they have an animal put down, and said the landfills should look at signage to make their disposal policy clearer.
“Euthanized carcasses kill wildlife,” she said. “Even domesticated animals, if they eat it.”
— With files from Linda Aylesworth