A rare falcon that was injured in Richmond, then nursed back to health, has escaped in Indiana.
The peregrine falcon flew from its trainers' car Wednesday morning after someone broke into the car and tampered with a specialized box containing the bird, officials said.
The trainers — Andrew and Eva King of Albemarle County — did nothing wrong, said Dave McRuer, director of veterinary medicine at the Wildlife Center of Virginia, an wild-animal hospital in Waynesboro.
"Everyone is just sick," McRuer said.
The female peregrine falcon injured its right eye and shoulder Oct. 12 in Richmond, possibly by flying into a high-rise window. A worker found it on the ground near Shockoe Slip.
The Wildlife Center treated the bird, then turned it over to the Kings on Dec. 13. They were training it for a planned return to the wild this spring.
The falcon can survive in Indiana, but leather straps attached to its legs could snag on tree limbs, trapping the bird and causing it to starve, McRuer said.
It's also possible the falcon could bite through the straps.
The Kings were returning from an educational event in Minnesota when they stopped Tuesday night at a hotel in Fort Wayne, Ind.
Unaware of the break-in, Eva King checked the box the next morning, and the falcon bolted out, the wildlife center said. The burglar had released the leg straps from a hitch.
Falconers often take their birds with them on trips to ensure they get proper care, McRuer said.
Wildlife experts in Indiana hope to catch the falcon.
rspringston@timesdispatch.com
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