We have sad news to report: our beloved red-tailed hawk ‘Beauty,’ Ambassador raptor of 22 years, was determined to have a large mass growing on her liver and almost no liver function by UW-Madison Veterinary Services late last week. There was no course of treatment. We were faced with the difficult decision to either take her back to Upham knowing that she would decline and not survive much longer or have her euthanized that day. Despite our sadness, the staff agreed it was much more humane to prevent her from suffering further. 

During her time at Upham, Beauty educated tens of thousands of youth and adults through hundreds of programs both on and off-site. We are now exploring the best way to honor her decades of service. We ask that if Beauty touched your life in some way, please consider sharing your memories of her either publicly below or privately in a message. 

We are also exploring how to continue the Raptor Education program through obtaining and training new Ambassador raptors. If you would like to support this effort, please consider making a donation in any amount to the “Ambassador Animal Fund.” We thank you for any support you can provide!