Majesta wasted no time taking to her wings. In a couple of flaps, the five-year-old bald eagle caught the wind, circled higher and higher, and soared away from the humans who had spent 18 days nursing her back to health. She didn't look back.
Majesta's journey to freedom began on February 1st, when Gainesville Police Department Corporal Rob Rogers responded to a call about an eagle in distress behind a Jiffy Lube on Archer Road in Florida. He found her inside a cardboard box in a dumpster — bruised and exhausted after a territorial fight with a younger male bald eagle.
Rogers hopped into the dumpster, armed with a moving blanket and a tote. He quickly realised he was outmatched.
"I decided it was the smart idea to jump in with it until I realised it had probably a six-foot wingspan." — Cpl. Rob Rogers, Gainesville Police Department
Peeking over the top of the dumpster, he spotted reinforcements — Florida Wildlife Care had heard the police call and arrived to help. Together, they carefully corralled and transported Majesta to Nature World Wildlife Rescue and Sanctuary in Homosassa, where she was assessed and treated.
The Perfect Patient (Who Hated Every Second)
The diagnosis was reassuring: bruising and exhaustion from the fight, but no broken bones or long-term injuries. Majesta was, however, a terrible patient — she wanted absolutely nothing to do with the humans trying to help her.
"She wanted nothing to do with people," said Ross Bedard of Nature World Wildlife. Which, as it turned out, made her the perfect candidate for release back into the wild. A wild animal that distrusts humans is exactly the kind of wild animal that thrives on its own.
The Release
After 18 days of rehabilitation, Majesta was brought to a release site behind the University of Florida's animal hospitals on February 19th. The moment Bedard opened the carrier, she launched herself into the sky — two powerful wingbeats and she was riding the thermals, climbing northeast until she was just a speck against the clouds.
A Team Effort
The story brought together an unlikely team: a police officer willing to jump into a dumpster with a six-foot-wingspan raptor, wildlife rehabilitators who dropped everything to respond, and one very grumpy eagle who reminded everyone that wild things belong in the wild.
Bald eagles were once on the brink of extinction in the United States, with fewer than 500 nesting pairs in the 1960s. Thanks to decades of conservation efforts, including the banning of DDT and protections under the Endangered Species Act, the population has recovered to over 300,000 individual birds across the lower 48 states.
Majesta is one of them — bruised, rescued, rehabilitated, and now back where she belongs: soaring. 🦅