Shaver's Creek, located about 12 miles from Penn State's University Park campus, offers a nature center, hiking trails, live reptiles and amphibians, hands-on exhibits and a Raptor Center -- housing birds of prey unable to survive in the wild on their own.
As a result of the electrical shock, the Golden Eagle sustained injuries to her neck and wing and lost a talon. Though she cannot be released back into the wild, her recovery was successful. She has lived at the Shaver's Creek Raptor Center since September 1990.
The Raptor Center currently houses 14 different kinds of birds, from the Golden Eagle to five species of owls to the Bald Eagle, in addition to 12 species of amphibians and reptiles. Raptor Center Program Director Jason Beale says that it's a privilege to use these animals to help educate the public.
"The animals are used in almost every program that we do here at Shaver's Creek," said Beale. These programs range from classes and internships to community programs and team-building exercises.
He continued, "My number-one job is to make sure the animals are healthy and living in environments that are doing a service to the educational program. In addition, my main goal is really to inspire conservation. I want people to walk away from a program with the idea that they can actively engage in some form of conservation related to the animals."
Conservation education