KARACHI: A rare white-tailed eagle, rescued from hunters in southern Pakistan, could be released in Margalla Hills near Islamabad in Jan. after more than a year of rehabilitation, a Karachi-based conservationist told Arab News.

The juvenile female eagle was recovered during a joint operation by the Sindh Wildlife Department and ConseRaptor Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and conservation of birds of prey, near the Sukkur district of the southern Sindh province in Nov. 2025.

Haroon Yousafzai, who heads the foundation and is certified as a wildlife healer by the Sindh Wildlife Department, said the bird had recovered from its injuries but still needed flight training and a final assessment before it could return to the wild.

“After 11 months of hard work, we have successfully rehabilitated this bird and completed its molting process,” Yousafzai told Arab News in Karachi, referring to the natural replacement of feathers.

“As far as its feathers are concerned, they have all grown back completely, and the bird is now ready for the wild.”

The white-tailed eagle, scientifically named Haliaeetus albicilla, is a large bird of prey found across parts of Europe and Asia. It is considered a rare winter visitor to Pakistan.

Yousafzai said ConseRaptor Foundation first received information about the captive eagle on Nov. 1, 2025 and subsequently coordinated with Sindh wildlife officials to secure its recovery.

Hunters had stitched the bird’s eyes shut with a needle and thread and damaged its flight feathers in a bid to prevent it from flying, according to the conservator.

The eagle had also developed serious digestive problems after being fed unsuitable food, including chicken waste, during captivity.

“The bird’s stomach was badly infected. There was a strong fungal smell coming from its mouth, and it could not eat on its own,” Yousafzai said.

“We faced considerable difficulties rehabilitating it because this species is not normally found in our area and it was our first experience treating one.”

Yousafzai worked at a private falcon breeding farm in Saudi Arabia from 2013 to 2015, where he says he had gained specialist experience in handling and caring for birds of prey.

This experience has helped him rehabilitate injured raptors through the ConseRaptor Foundation in Pakistan, where specialized facilities and expertise remained limited.

A member of the foundation, who currently works in Saudi Arabia, helped obtain medicines needed during the eagle’s treatment.

“He provided those medicines very quickly, which helped us successfully treat the bird,” Yousafzai said.

Although the eagle has regrown the damaged feathers, Yousafzai said months in captivity had affected its ability to fly normally.

The foundation plans to begin the bird’s outdoor flight conditioning during cooler weather, with approximately one month of practice before assessing whether the bird can fly and survive independently.

Yousafzai said they were considering releasing the bird in Margalla Hills near Pakistan’s capital Islamabad because of the cooler weather conditions.

However, the proposed location and timing remain subject to the raptor’s fitness, permission from the World Wide Fund for Nature – Pakistan (WWF) and confirmation that the site is suitable for its release.

Yousafzai’s non-profit organization also hopes to attach a GPS tracking device to the eagle to document its movement, migration route and survival after release.

A suitable GPS tracking device could cost upwards of Rs180,000 ($650), depending on its specifications, according to the conservator. The tracking plan remains dependent on funding and the necessary approvals.

Yousafzai said the eagle would remain in care of ConseRaptor Foundation until it completed flight training and wildlife authorities cleared its release, with the proposed January return to the wild dependent on its ability to survive independently.

“The GPS tracker will allow us to record the bird’s migration route, where it travels and how long it survives,” Yousafzai said.

“We will share this information with the public. If the bird is trapped again or something happens to it, we will have a record.”