Published TUESDAY April 1, 2025: 'Thunder's VISION' Photography and text by ZUMA Partner newspaper The Tampa Bay Times Pulitzer Prize winning photo-journalist Douglas R. Clifford: A team of veterinary surgeons performed cataract surgery on Thunder, a bald eagle rescued after being shot by a poacher, to preserve her quality of life, as a partial cataract in her left eye had worsened. This surgery in birds, while possible, is a specialized procedure requiring expertise, with success rates comparable to those in humans, it involves removing the clouded lens and, in some cases, replacing it with an artificial one. Since her rescue, Thunder has served as an ambassador for public education, including a trip to Maine for Wreaths Across America, a nonprofit that honors fallen U.S. military service members. Welcome to 'Thunder's VISION'
© zReportage.com Issue #983 Story of the Week: Published TUESDAY April 1, 2025: 'Thunder's VISION' Photography and text by ZUMA Partner newspaper The Tampa Bay Times Pulitzer Prize winning photo-journalist Douglas R. Clifford: A team of veterinary surgeons performed cataract surgery on Thunder, a bald eagle rescued after being shot by a poacher, to preserve her quality of life, as a partial cataract in her left eye had worsened. This surgery in birds, while possible, is a specialized procedure requiring expertise, with success rates comparable to those in humans, it involves removing the clouded lens and, in some cases, replacing it with an artificial one. Since her rescue, Thunder has served as an ambassador for public education, including a trip to Maine for Wreaths Across America, a nonprofit that honors fallen U.S. military service members. Welcome to 'Thunder's VISION'
Veterinarian KATIE MYER helps administer anesthesia gases to THUNDER, the bald eagle, before her cataract surgery at Fetch Specialty and Emergency Veterinary Centers in Brandon. Thunder was rescued after being shot by a poacher as an eaglet in her nest in Sebring in 1995, when bald eagles were still endangered. She survived, but the attack killed her sibling and severed an optic nerve, leaving her blind in her right eye.
© Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via ZUMA Press Wire
Veterinarian MICHELE LENTOVICH inserts an intravenous cannula into Thunder, the eagle's leg, before her cataract surgery at Fetch Specialty and Emergency Veterinary Centers in Brandon. She was transferred to the sanctuary in 2023, where a partial cataract was discovered in her left eye.
© Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via ZUMA Press Wire
Veterinarian KATIE MYER uses an anesthesia mask to deliver inhaled anesthetic gases to THUNDER, the eagle, before her cataract surgery at Fetch Specialty and Emergency Veterinary Centers in Brandon. Over the past six months, the cataract has worsened, making surgery necessary to preserve her quality of life.
© Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via ZUMA Press Wire
From left: Surgical technician CHRISYY HADESTY, left, monitors anesthesia while veterinarians MICHELE LENTOVICH and KATIE MYER, right, position THUNDER, the eagle, on an operating table, during her cataract surgery at Fetch Specialty and Emergency Veterinary Centers in Brandon.
© Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via ZUMA Press Wire
Veterinarian BRITTANY SCHLESENER places an electrode behind the eye of THUNDER, the eagle, while performing a Visual Evoked Potential (VEP) test to evaluate the functional integrity of the visual pathways, including the optic nerve, before her cataract surgery at Fetch Specialty and Emergency Veterinary Centers in Brandon.
© Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via ZUMA Press Wire
Veterinarian BRITTANY SCHLESENER, center, begins the cataract removal procedure on THUNDER, the bald eagle, at Fetch Specialty and Emergency Veterinary Centers in Brandon.
© Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via ZUMA Press Wire
Veterinarian Brittany Schlesener interprets structures in Thunder's eye using an ultrasound machine, before her cataract surgery at Fetch Specialty and Emergency Veterinary Centers in Brandon. This surgery in birds, while possible, is a specialized procedure requiring expertise, with success rates comparable to those in humans.
© Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via ZUMA Press Wire
Veterinarian BRITTANY SCHLESENER interprets structures in Thunder's eye using an ultrasound machine, before her cataract surgery at Fetch Specialty and Emergency Veterinary Centers in Brandon.
© Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via ZUMA Press Wire
PATRICK BRADLEY, of St. Petersburg, holds 'Thunder ' an american bald eagle, center, while attending the Arians Family Foundation's annual golf tournament at Innisbrook Golf Resort & Spa in Palm Harbor. THUNDER serves as an ambassador for public education, including a trip to Maine for Wreaths Across America, a nonprofit that honors fallen U.S. military service members.
© Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times/ZUMA Wire
