AEF Updates & Events
June 25, 2003 — The American Eagle Foundation staff (headquartered at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee) banded a Bald Eaglet on Wednesday, June 25, 2003 and placed it into an artificial nesting tower located on Douglas Lake in East Tennessee.
PIGEON FORGE, TN – June 23, 2003
The American Eagle Foundation’s work to raise public awareness and preserve the nation’s freedom symbol will again reach into the heart of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C. – When the subject of federal grants for State wildlife programs comes up in the new United States Congress, there will be a very visible and effective lobbyist from Tennessee on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol Building. His name is Challenger, and he’s an American Bald Eagle cared for by the non-profit American Eagle Foundation, headquartered at Dolly Parton’s Dollywood entertainment park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
CHICAGO — ‘Challenger’ – a 15-year old Bald Eagle – soared through the skies over Wrigley Field today during the Oak Ridge Boys’ singing of the National Anthem to raise awareness of the new Illinois Military Family Relief Fund.
PIGEON FORGE, Tenn., May 9 — Four non-releasable female eagles cared for by the American Eagle Foundation at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, have received some early and very special Mother’s Day gifts. The stately moms are named Liberty, Cheyenne, Boni Spae and Twilight, and they all have been blessed with recently hatched bouncing baby eaglets.
NEW YORK — America’s eagle ambassador is taking to the skies over America’s greatest baseball parks, kicking off a new season of ‘America’s pastime’ with patriotic flair. ‘Challenger,’ the flying symbol of the American Eagle Foundation is in New York to fly over Yankee stadium tomorrow, April 8th, to open the team’s season and to honor America.
Super slugger Barry Bonds enjoys a casual pre-game visit by American Eagle Foundation President Al Louis Cecere and Challenger, the celebrity Bald Eagle, in the Giants locker room at Pacific Bell Park.
They’ve been together through both the good and bad times since 1993. Now, the most intimate details of their family life are being revealed publicly via live action cameras on the World Wide Web.
Challenger, the Bald Eagle, may be soaring to new heights of super-stardom during the coming year. If the non-profit American Eagle Foundation (AEF) gets its wish, the thirteen year-old free flying wonder will soon be featured in children’s books, a line of toys, and even on the silver screen. If those dreams come true, 2002 and beyond could be very prosperous for the U.S.A.’s freedom symbol.
It turns out that Challenger is a very busy bird. The 12-year-old bald eagle, whose spectacular fly-over punctuated the national anthem for the first two games of this World Series, spent most of yesterday as a passenger on George Steinbrenner’s private jet.
Owl-X (pronounced Alex), was found in January 1985 as an injured youngster on the Belle Meade golf course in Nashville, TN. He had fallen from his nest during a storm and impacted on his left side.
Motivated by an Associated Press photograph that appeared in The Tennessean newspaper June 16, 1983 depicting 23 eagles that had been shot in the Dakotas by poachers, Al Cecere, founder of the American Eagle Foundation, experienced a life-changing moment that redirected his life and aroused his passion to save a precious species.
