SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A baby golden eagle is recovering after officials say it miraculously survived a Utah wildfire last month.
Kent Keller told The Salt Lake Tribune he feared the worst when he returned to the nest site west of Utah Lake to retrieve a leg band he had attached to the male eaglet.
But the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources volunteer found the burned bird on June 28 behind a charred tree, about 25 feet below the nest that was burned to a crisp in the 5,500-acre Dump Fire near Saratoga Springs.
After securing permission from state and federal wildlife agencies, the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah in Ogden assumed care of the eaglet this week.
Officials hope the bird can eventually be released back into the wild.
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