WildNorth releases 2 hawks after rehabilitation [Video]

A pair of birds not often seen in Edmonton have been given a new lease on life, thanks to a local animal rescue.

Two rough-legged hawks were released from WildNorth on Friday afternoon. The pair had been living there since October, after being rescued near Fort McMurray. 

The WildNorth Northern Alberta Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre provides care for around 3,500 injured and orphaned animals each year.

While 95 per cent of those have been injured due to human activity, the rescue suspects inexperience was at play for the two juvenile raptors.

“These two ran into some trouble in their southern migration,” WildNorth executive director Dale Gienow said.

“They would have just recently left the nest and tried to make it out on their own to survive, but (they’re) not accomplished hunters yet at a young age.

“Many of them don’t make it through that first migration, and that was the case with these guys. But some kind individuals …