ISLAMABAD, May 20: An injured Steppe Eagle, which is a migratory from Central Asia, drew the attention of wild life conservators on Monday after the eagle was rescued by the Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team of the civic authority on Friday.

The eagle’s rare emergence in summer was a concern not only for wild life conservators who called for its quick treatment but also for the USAR officials who were unaware of the breed of eagle.

The zoo officials had informed USAR of the important migratory eagle, which had been stranded on a tree for two days and was rescued on Friday by the USAR team after the complaint of a visitor in G-7.

“The local children in G-7 were throwing stones at the injured eagle, which had already fainted due to hunger,” said Col Kazim Raza, a senior official of the USAR.

He said the bird had been taken to the vet at Islamabad Zoo, and was now under treatment with a broken feather.

The bird would be set free once it recovered and its history recorded, Mr Raza added.

According to a senior official of the World Wild Life, Dr Ejaz Ahmed, the Steppe Eagle was not a common guest in this region during summers.

“This bird must have got lost and injured, and was hiding at some cooler place in the Margalla Hills,” observed Dr Ahmed.

He said the eagle visited Pakistan’s Himalayas during the winters, starting from September, and left the Pakistani region by the start of April. It is mostly found in Central Asian countries such as Russia, Mongolia and Romania, he added.

“Steppe Eagle is a farmer-friendly bird since it kills rodents which damage crops, and hence should not be harmed or killed at any cost,” he maintained.