Some farmers found a lethargic and emaciated young male bald eagle\u00a0in\u00a0Elizabeth, a tiny town in Colorado just beyond the southeastern edge of the Denver metropolitan area. <\/p>\n
The staff of a raptor rescue center in nearby Sedalia have been trying for more than a week to keep it alive and nurse it back to health.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s difficult to say whether the eagle will live, Rocky Mountain Wildlife Alliance founder and executive director Emily Davenport told Cowboy State Daily.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very much so touch and go. I would say he\u2019s still in critical condition and his prognosis is still guarded,\u201d she said. \u201cWe’ll\u00a0keep fighting as\u00a0long\u00a0as he wants to keep fighting.”<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Lead-poisoned-eagle-MixCollage-07-Mar-2026-07-02-AM-2681-3.7.26.jpg\")
A bald eagle with severe lead poisoning is fighting for its life at a Colorado raptor rehabilitation center. (Courtesy Emily Davenport, Rocky Mountain Wildlife Alliance)Eagle Behaving Strangely<\/p>\n
Like Wyoming, Colorado has a large resident population of eagles, as well as numerous eagles that migrate in from the north to spend the winter there.<\/p>\n
Davenport said it isn\u2019t certain whether the bird she and her staff are treating is a resident or a migrant. It\u2019s estimated to be about 5 years old, just old enough to have the iconic white head.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe still has a few brown feathers,\u201d indicating youth, she said.<\/p>\n
Barring lead poisoning or other mishaps, bald eagles can live 20 to 40 years in the wild, she added.<\/p>\n
The farmer who first reported the eagle is used to seeing raptors around his place, and noticed something wasn\u2019t right with one of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe thought that it was unusual that the bird had barely moved for three days,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
By the time the farmer and a friend decided to try capturing the bird and bring it to the rescue center, it couldn\u2019t fly, walk or even stand.<\/p>\n
Davenport said she coached the rescuers over the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe walked them through, in detail, what they needed to do to catch the bird without getting\u00a0hurt\u00a0themselves \u2014 and not injuring the bird,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Given the\u00a0eagle’s\u00a0severely weakened state, Davenport knew it was likely one of two things \u2013 an avian flu infection or lead poisoning.<\/p>\n
It turned out to be the latter.<\/p>\n
They\u00a0have a machine to test birds\u2019 blood for lead contamination.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis poisoning was so severe, our machine couldn\u2019t even read the levels,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was probably a couple of days away from death,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Starving To Death<\/p>\n
When a raptor is contaminated with enough\u00a0lead, it will\u00a0throw\u00a0the bird\u2019s entire system out of whack.<\/p>\n
There are neurological and muscular effects, which ruin the eagle\u2019s ability to fly or walk. Disruption of the nerves and muscles can also make breathing difficult.<\/p>\n
Lead contamination can also incapacitate digestive function. So, even if the eagle eats, it can\u2019t process calories.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven if food is available to eat, they slowly starve to death. That\u2019s what was happening to this bird, it was on the edge of starvation,\u201d Davenport said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s held down a few small meals now, which seems tiny, but that\u2019s significant progress,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
The center doesn\u2019t give names the raptors it tries to rescue, out of respect for their wildness, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Lead-poisoned-eagle-Eagle-1-3.7.26.jpeg\")
A bald eagle with severe lead poisoning is fighting for its life at a Colorado raptor rehabilitation center. (Courtesy Emily Davenport, Rocky Mountain Wildlife Alliance)Like Chemotherapy<\/p>\n
The eagle is being treated with chelation therapy. That involves injecting it with a formula that draws the lead out of its system.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a harsh process that involves a few days of treatment, then letting the eagle rest and recover for a few days, Davenport said.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0process is similar to what humans go through when undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, Bryan Bedrosian, conservation director at Wyoming\u2019s Teton Raptor Center, told Cowboy State Daily.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt introduces a chemical that binds to the lead that\u2019s circulating in the blood of the bird, and it essentially gets pooped out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had eagles that we\u2019ve had to give four rounds of chelation treatment,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The Teton Raptor Center frequently takes in eagles with lead poisoning, he said. About two weeks ago, they tried to save a golden eagle, but it didn\u2019t survive. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Lead-Free Ammo<\/p>\n
Davenport and Bedrosian are both big game hunters, and strong advocates for hunters switching to lead-free ammunition.<\/p>\n
Copper bullets are what they recommend.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love solid copper ammunition. It doesn\u2019t fragment and retains its mass, unlike lead,\u201d Davenport said.<\/p>\n
Bedrosian supports the Sporting Lead-Free group, which features a lead-free\u00a0ammunition finder<\/a>\u00a0on its website.<\/p>\n It\u2019s difficult to tell where and how the bald eagle was contaminated, Davenport said.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not only big game hunters that use lead ammunition. Varmint shooters, or ranchers who have to put down sick or injured livestock might leave lead-contaminated carcasses on the landscape, she said.<\/p>\n Those carcasses are a hazard for eagles and other wildlife, Bedrosian said.<\/p>\n If an eagle eats enough contaminated meat, it might take a month or more for it to start developing symptoms of lead poisoning, he said.<\/p>\n