Newly Mended Eagle Takes Off--After People Do : Wildlife: The rare bird of prey is released in the same area where it was found unconscious last month after apparently being hit by a car.

A rare golden eagle that was rescued by wildlife workers after being hit by a car was returned to the Angeles National Forest Friday--healthy, but hesitant to fly in front of an anxious crowd of media and well-wishers.

“She took her own sweet time,” said Martine Colette, president of the Wildlife Waystation, a 160-acre preserve in Little Tujunga Canyon that rehabilitates thousands of injured animals each year. “Ultimately, we required everyone to leave and . . . she flew off.”

The eagle, one of an endangered species, was released in the same area where Waystation workers found it unconscious and wounded after apparently being hit by a car on Angeles Forest Highway last month.

“The animal was comatose and had extreme head trauma,” Colette said. “Without appropriate medical treatment and drugs, it would not have survived the head trauma. Its ability to fly was non-existent so it would have starved to death.”

Medical workers at the Waystation nursed the 30-inch-tall female bird, with a wingspread of more than eight feet, back to health and expect that it will have no problems surviving.

“She was not as strong as she will be, from being in captivity,” Colette said. “But this is not something she will not get over.”

A crowd of 30 people was on hand to witness the release of the bird Friday, including a forest ranger who had often seen the eagle in flight with a companion over the craggy, sparsely vegetated area. “He was thrilled to have her back,” said Colette of the ranger. “It’s the only pair of golden eagles in this vicinity that we know of.”

“Eagles are not common in Southern California and when we get them it’s rare,” Colette said. Although the eagle took more than an hour before finally flying off--after thoroughly surveying both the crowd and its surroundings--Colette said the flight was worth the wait.

“That’s what makes you keep trying,” Colette said. “When you see them go back. That’s what makes it all worthwhile.”