Four birds — two red-tailed hawks, one Harris’ hawk and one gyrfalcon — were killed in a fire Friday at the Iowa Raptor Project, a conservation center in Solon jointly sponsored by the University of Iowa and Kirkwood Community College.
The North Liberty and Solon fire departments responded at 4:24 a.m. Friday to the Iowa Raptor Project property at 3673 Raptor Ridge Rd. NE, according to a news release from the UI.
Firefighters found a fire in four enclosures, called mews, for birds at the property. The four mews were completely lost as well as the birds kept in each of them. The other birds at the property are being observed for signs of distress, the news release states.
The center said on its website that it displayed 17 birds of prey, which it said could not be released to the wild, to the public.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, and an estimate of the cost of damages is not yet available. The Iowa Raptor Project and the Macbride Nature Recreation Area will be closed until further notice, according to the release.
Four birds killed in fire at Iowa Raptor Project
Four birds — two red-tailed hawks, one Harris’ hawk, and one gyrfalcon — were killed in a fire Friday morning at the Iowa Raptor Project, a raptor conservation center in Solon, which is jointly sponsored by the University of Iowa and and Kirkwood Community College.
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