Two bald eagles released after rehabilitation

After months of rehabilitation, two bald eagles were released back into the wild on Tuesday.

Both raptors had been brought to the Blue Mountain Wildlife Rescue in Pendleton separately, both of them had been starving.

"We're not sure what was wrong with the male when we got him in September, but he couldn't eat anything. We think maybe he ate something rotten. If we force-fed him, he would just vomit, so we gave him supportive care and lots and lots of fluids," said Lynn Tompkins. "He was ready to go about a month ago. We were going to release him at the wildlife refuge in Burbank, but then the cholera outbreak happened, and we decided to wait a little longer.

A young female bird has been at the rescue since summer, after a group of hikers found her, starving, suffering from a dislocated him and shoulder.

"We don't know if she crash-landed and the couldn't get off the ground and that's why she was starving, or got separated from her parents and didn't know how to take care of herself," Tompkins said.

Tompkins said they decided to wait until both birds could be released, in the hopes that the older bird could help teach the female what she needs to know to survive in the wild.