Post-release Survival of Golden Eagles in Western North America Following Clinical Rehabilitation from Injury and Disease.

In the USA, funding for rehabilitating Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) from injuries and diseases may serve to offset incidental take of the species as authorized by permit from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, e.g., for blade-strike fatalities at wind turbines. However, post-release survival of these eagles may differ from that of their wild conspecifics. Our objectives were to (1) estimate the survival rate of rehabilitated Golden Eagles tracked via satellite telemetry in western North America during their first post-release year; (2) compare the estimate to that of wild Golden Eagles; and (3) estimate how many rehabilitated individuals must be released such that one would be as likely to survive its first post-release year as a wild eagle would to survive any given year. During March 2013–June 2023, we tracked 27 Golden Eagles that had been admitted for rehabilitation when ≥1 yr (AFY) of age, mostly (≥85.2%) due to anthropogenic factors; rehabilitation lasted 23–321 d (median = 125.0). Within 1 yr of release, 15 (55.6%) of the eagles died, nine (33.3%) remained alive, and fates of three (11.1%) were unknown (tracked 44 d, 134 d, and 294 d). The mean survival rate estimate from a multistate model was 0.31 (SD = 0.08), versus 0.87 (SD = 0.07) for wild AFY Golden Eagles. We estimated that 3.5 rehabilitated Golden Eagles must be released for one to be as likely to survive its first post-release year as a wild Golden Eagle would to survive any given year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]