Wildlife Center learned online lessons from eagle fans

When The Wildlife Center of Virginia took in three bald eaglets in April after their mother was killed by an airliner, the center got more than the trio of chicks. Thousands of adoring and slightly annoying fans were also part of the package.

The birds had been tracked by webcam before they hatched from their baseball-sized eggs and, after the center took in the 4-week-old birds, their followers sent thousands of emails to Ed Clark, the center's co-founder and president, checking on the chicks' welfare.

Their devoted fans presented a unique opportunity for the Waynesboro-based center, which takes in more than 2,000 animals a year. The center had recently adopted a strategic plan calling for educating through technology, and adopting the birds enabled the center to engage with an already-established online community.

It turned out to be one of the best things the center had done in years. The first day the chicks arrived, the center's website got 30,000 hits, nearly double the center's 18,000 monthly hits in March. In the span of three months, the center was able to get its message about conservation to hundreds of thousands of viewers.

"The whole dynamic of being able to get online and do environmental education for thousands of people at a time without ever having to leave our office was very appealing to us," Clark said.

A few years ago, when the center took in a sick eaglet from the same nest, located in the Norfolk Botanical Garden, the staff's attitude was different. "We didn't want any part of it," Clark admits. He said he deluded himself by thinking if he ignored the "eagle people," they'd go away.

But this time around, the center embraced the opportunity to engage. Clark got online to answer questions 15 minutes after the chicks arrived at the center. The webcam was up within 48 hours.

During their three-month stay in the center, he spent an average of three hours a day chatting with eaglet fans. He logged on from home early in the morning to talk about their progress, and sometimes he would hop on at night. He even chatted with fans sitting under a tree at his mountain cabin. He talked about what the 4-week-old eagles were doing, how they were developing, what they were eating, how their flying attempts were going. His staff participated, too.

"What these eagles have done is they've let the public into their lives," said Dave McRuer, the center's director of veterinary services. "People are learning all kinds of great stuff."

He noticed that people really wanted to be part of the eagles' story.

Linda Russell of Norfolk has watched the nest via webcam for years. She enjoys watching the birds grow and, over time, became fiercely protective of them, she said Wednesday while watching their release into the wild in Charles City County.

"You get so attached to them," she said.

Terri Kilgore of Gloucester County, who kept an eye on the eggs 24 hours a day before they hatched, said she has always loved animals. "After watching the eagles, it enhanced the feeling of love toward the animals," she said.

She has long been excited about nature but, watching the eaglets, "I've become more and more interested in it. You learn so much."

Stephen Living, a wildlife biologist with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, one of the sponsors of the webcam, said the project made him realize that by giving people a small window into wildlife, they get passionate about it. At one point, he asked himself, "What have we done?"

Clark said the "eagle people," as he called them, asked the same questions over and over. They had to be told things two and three times. Some were know-it-alls. Sometimes he felt as if they needed to step away from the computer, to find a hobby.

But they grew on him. They cared for the birds in a way he had never witnessed. They knew every detail about the eaglets' lives — when the eggs were laid, when they hatched, when their mother disappeared, when they first flew. They noted differences in the eaglets' personalities, watched what they ate, admired their landings.

Living said the eagle fans are a group of people that his department might not otherwise connect with if it weren't for the webcam. The agency has typically reached out to hunters, anglers, even bird-watchers, but this group didn't necessarily spend a lot of time outside, in nature, interacting with wildlife.

"They still may be just as passionate about it," Living said. "If more people believe wildlife is worth protecting, we'll have more support."

The economic impact of letting all these "eagle people" have an inside look at the birds has been amazing, Clark said. Viewers personally donated to the center, sending in tens of thousands of dollars the first week. The fans also went online to round up more support, winning the center $225,000 in grants, nearly one-fourth of the center's annual budget, from Chase Community Giving. More than 16,000 people voted for the center in a Facebook poll.

He learned valuable lessons about building a community. People will support you if they feel acknowledged and appreciated for their support, he said. He also learned that people care about animals whose stories they can understand.

Most importantly, he and his staff have been rejuvenated by eagle cam fans who were so fascinated with the birds that they were willing to watch an egg incubate for hours on end.

"We have reconnected with that," Clark said. "We have been reminded of what got us into this in the first place."