Conservation officers got up close and personal with a wounded bald eagle in Hanover, Ill., last week.
In a striking video of the bald eagle rescue, Illinois conservation police surround the injured bird and swaddle it with a coat. The animal is then taken to a local wildlife rehabilitation center to be treated.
Illinois Department of Natural Resources spokesman Chris McCloud explained to The Huffington Post that the video shows one of the team's new officers learning how to corral an injured bird for the first time.
The bald eagle is one of several that have been rescued by the state's conservation officers, McCloud also said. Typically, Illinois conservation police are called in to retrieve between eight and 12 injured bald eagles per year.
Another bald eagle was rescued recently in Oregon after it was hit by a car on Interstate 84. Drivers spotted the animal lying on the side of the highway and flagged down a passing firetruck to transport the bird to safety. Though the eagle was reportedly stabilized, it was later euthanized when scans revealed its extensive injuries had left it permanently paralyzed.
Though once considered endangered, the bald eagle population has flourished in the past few decades, prompting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to take it off the threatened species list.
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