Falcon injured in shooting released back into the wild after eight months
A peregrine falcon that was shot last year in West Cork has been released back into the wild.
The Animal Magic Wildlife Rescue centre in Kilmallock, Co Limerick, were alerted to the injured falcon in April last year by a lady called Amanda.
After examining the bird, they discovered that she had been shot and her wing was quite badly broken.
Rosie from the rescue centre told us: "We cleaned her wounds, strapped the wing and gave her some much needed pain relief."
Since birds of prey are a protected species, they then contacted their local wildlife ranger and the Gardaí to report it. Fiona's lengthy rehabilitation started off with a month's confinement whilst her broken wing mended, before they trained her along with their own raptors.
At the moment the centre has almost 30 birds of prey which are trained daily - that's a lot of training.
Their initial training consists of someone swinging bait at the end of some string for the raptor to catch, followed by training with a kite - the same concept as the toy, but bigger - starting at 20 feet and progressing up to 1000 feet into the air.
Rosie said: "This enables us to see if they can gain the height they need to be successful in the wild. This process can take several months, but once they are reaching adequate height and sustaining flight, we have a good idea of their condition.
"As soon as they begin hunting for themselves, they are put into seclusion for a week, they are fed through a hatch, with no interaction with ourselves and with just views of open countryside, this helps them to disassociate with humans."
If you can't see Animal Magic's Facebook video, try here.
They are then taken to the release site and set free.
Rosie says they have numerous other birds and animals that are almost ready to be released.
She said: "Finding the right sites for them can be a challenge, as most of their injuries were caused, directly or indirectly by us humans and to give them that important second chance, we have to minimise any risks there may be to them in their new home."
The centre gets an ex-gratia payment from the Ministry of Agriculture, for which they are very grateful, but money is always scarce so Rosie says they are always thankful for any kind people to donate to them here.
She said: "We here at Animal Magic Wildlife Rescue will always do our very best for the birds and many animals in our care, but without the help of the general public who recognise that a wild creature is in trouble, many of them would perish.
"Funding is always a problem and money is always in short supply. We do run courses and Falconry Experiences here, and we do Natural History Lectures at schools and colleges, which gives us an income, but not enough to keep us afloat, we could always do with a little help from our followers, and if anyone out there would like to donate, or sponsor us, that would be fantastic."
If you are impressed by the centre's work, why not send them a donation, or just a kind message on their Facebook page.
