A golden eagle who was shot and unable to fly has been released after being cared for at Fishcross.
Named Hamlet, the bird was found in the Tweedsmuir area on January 15 this year.
He then came into the care of the National Wildlife Rescue Centre in Fishcross on January 18.
Hamlet was assessed by the Scottish SPCA’s veterinary team, who conducted an X-ray to determine how much the shot had affected the range of movement in his right wing.
Simon Green, veterinary care assistant, said in a Scottish SPCA video: “We could see he had a very stiff elbow and some swelling around the elbow.
“We took some radiographs, some X-rays, and we could see that there was some shot in there, some metal fragments, so likely that he could have been shot.
“The wing only extended to about 85 degrees. We started doing physio on him and every day we came in for about ten minutes physio where we were stretching the wing out.
“In over a week the 85 degrees extended to 140 degrees, which matched the leg wing.
“So that was great, and then he’s been on some pain relief and anti-inflammatories.
“It was really nice to see his progress.”
Hamlet was then released back into the wild in February.
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