Palo Alto Junior Museum Bald Eagle Flies The Coop
PALO ALTO (CBS SF) -- A female bald eagle named Sequoia flown away from her home at the Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo earlier this week.
However, it is not the first time the captive bald eagle has flown the coop.
KPIX 5 cameras were there three years ago when she finally returned -- tired, hungry and dehydrated -- after several days on the loose.
"She's always come back. But there are times of terror like this when she's out," said Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo Director John Aikin. "I don't know where she is and I want answers."
Aikin explained that Sequoia was taking part in a regularly scheduled flight training exercise Monday when she got away from her handler.
"She took off to chase something," said Aikin. "And that got her distracted. And she eventually began to wander."
Sequoia is outfitted with a radio-transmitter that allows zookeepers to track her.
She has lived in captivity for a quarter century after a gunshot wound permanently paralyzed her tail, making it impossible for her to hunt and live in the wild.
That's why the flights of freedom for the peninsula's most famous jail bird have always been short-lived.
