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"Working with SeaWorld, Busch Gardens and Discovery Cove brings value to all sides of the partnership." |
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Partnership activities: The SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund recently awarded
a grant for raptor rescue and rehabilitation to the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey in Maitland.
With the largest population of bald eagles in the continental United States and bursting with one
of the fastest-growing human populations in the nation, Florida plays a critical role in the protection
of eagles and other at-risk birds of prey. Human activities are a major threat to raptor survival - 85
percent of raptor injuries and deaths are caused by toxins, gunshots, habitat loss and collisions with
vehicles and power lines.
With more than 850 eagles admitted over the past 25 years, the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey
has served the largest number of eagles east of the Mississippi. More than one-third of the eagles
admitted to the center have been successfully released back into the wild. The center has had a direct
impact on 33 percent of Florida's current eagle population, either through direct rehabilitation or
through the offspring of birds treated and released. The rehabilitation of injured or orphaned raptors
at the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey relies on a team of dedicated consulting veterinarians
working with Audubon staff technicians who provide daily care and husbandry. The center admitted
19 different species of raptors from across Florida this past year - more than 630 sick, injured or
orphaned eagles, osprey, hawks, owls, falcons, kites and vultures, many impacted by the state's
history-making hurricane season.
Partner perspective: "Raptor rehabilitation is specialized and requires unique treatments,
recovery and rehabilitation. The SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund has enabled the
center to provide critical treatment and rehabilitative care to threatened and endangered raptors this
year. The Center has rehabilitated and released more than 40 percent of the raptors admitted for
care, including 277 bald eagles since 1979," said Dianna Flynt, center supervisor.
"The Audubon Center for Birds of Prey is a tremendous asset to the central Florida community," said
Sherry Branch, curator of birds at SeaWorld Orlando. "SeaWorld has a longstanding relationship
with the Center and its dedicated employees who give so much of their time and energy to protecting
and saving native birds."
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