Bald eagle that survived lead poisoning flies again

What's in the box? A bald eagle getting ready to take flight and return to the wild after a long recovery from lead poisoning. Parker was found more than two years ago in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park. He actually represented one of the most severe cases of lead poisoning that we've seen and his recovery is really quite remarkable when we look back at his intake videos. Rock says when they took him into their care, Parker couldn't eat or stand upright on his own. He was brought there by Parks Canada employee Amanda Gallant, who found Parker stuck in the woods flopping around near a campsite. It was the first time she's had to catch an eagle. It was pretty crazy. We made sure we had good eye protection and had some good welding gloves, grabbed a big blanket and just tossed the blanket over him. And kind of like most birds, he was pretty docile. Once he had that blanket over him, pinned his wings and put them in a crate. During his recovery, Parker was given medication to flush the lead from his system, but it took some time for the one-year-old bird to get all clear. Lead affects younger animals a little bit more severely than older ones, and so we needed to really keep an eye on Parker to make sure that he was able to fully recover and get back out to the wild. Rock says lead poisoning has become increasingly common among eagles. When we looked at it a few years ago, it was about 65 to 70% of all of our bald eagles coming in were impacted by lead. Rock says that's because adult eagles are getting more access to things like fishing hooks and bringing them back to the nest for their eaglets. As Parker's health improved, he grew antsy in his care. Rock says that's a sign he's ready to go back to the wild. But the flight day is surprisingly stressful. As soon as they get the wind under their wings and they start getting lift, that's when we all kind of sigh our relief is okay it's here it's happened we've done the journey we've caught them when they were big and strong and now it's up to them. With the birds safely released they're once again soaring freely above the highlands. Ethan Hunt, CBC News, Sheddacamp.