COLUMBIA - After months of tender loving care, 4 special birds returned to the wild on Tuesday, thanks to the efforts of volunteers and veterinary students at the University of Missouri.
The MU Raptor Rehabilitation Project usually releases birds in private but, for the first time in several years, visitors were able to see them take off.
The three owls and one red-tailed hawk all had serious injuries when they arrived at the clinic, where vet-med students and volunteers nursed them back to health. The project has rehabilitated 28 injured birds since last year, including those four.
"We've had some people come in today who have brought in raptors in the past," said Erin West of the Raptor Rehabilitation Project. "And I think that it was just very gratifying for them to see that these people are doing a good job and that these people can fix up our raptors and actually release them in the end."
The project always needs volunteers and fish donations to feed the birds.
Audio and photos by Paul David Lampe.
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