SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) - Dozens cheered on the release of an eagle who had been injured last month.
On Sunday, the public was invited to watch Trooper Eagle be released into the wild around 1:00 p.m.
"We had trooper since January 6 of this year," said Program Director, Jacques Nuzzo with the Illinois Raptor Center.
Trooper was found on the side of Interstate 55 by Sgt. Aaron Entringer with the Sherman Police Department.
"I received a telephone call within our police department from a citizen that there was a deceased eagle," said Entringer
He says upon arrival, he decided to snap a picture of the deceased eagle, but it blinked at him.
"So I took a couple of steps back naturally and notified the Conservation Police," he said.
Nuzzo says when they had the eagle, they were all convinced he wasn't going to make it, but she recovered pretty fast.
Nuzzo says the eagle caught the attention of many on social media and to honor this moment, they wanted the community to be a part of her release.
Nuzzo says they named her Trooper because law enforcement officials were there to help.
"This is just the next chapter in her life. There was a short moment she was under the care of people and now she gets to continue on being an eagle," said Nuzzo.
