Injured golden eagle rescued by deputy


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SUMMIT COUNTY — A Summit County Sheriff’s Deputy is being credited with saving an injured golden eagle Thursday afternoon.

Deputy Buck Bufton said he discovered the bird in some sagebrush in Brown’s Canyon. Bufton said it appeared the golden eagle had been feeding on a dead rabbit on the side of the road and had been hit by a vehicle.

“From what the citizens were telling me, a truck drove by,” Bufton said. “They didn’t actually see him get hit by the truck, but they saw him go across the front of the truck and then land on the ground. We don’t know who it was. We don’t know what kind of vehicle it was, but it appears he was hit by a vehicle while moving across the road.”

A wildlife unit was contacted and helped Bufton corner the golden eagle. He said he could tell the bird’s left wing was damaged and he was able to capture it using his coat.

“He was really big,” Bufton said. “I mean, the biggest bird I’ve seen up close like that, that type of bird. And he didn’t seem real aggressive. He more wanted to stay away from us.”

The bird was transported to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah and officials reported it had a compound fracture to the left wing and had lost quite a bit of blood.

Bald and golden eagles are federally protected species under The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Lacey Act, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Contributing: Marc Giauque

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