The group involved in setting up a disc golf basket that happened to trap a bald eagle in Robert Burnaby Park has come forward to apologize for the incident.

The NOW spoke to a person named Chad, who identified himself as member of the Burnaby Disc Golf Club, and explained the baskets, called tonals, have been hanging in the park for months and were actually meant to avoid an issue because they were of a higher quality.

article continues below

“It just dumbfounded us all that such a thing was possible,” he said of the eagle getting caught up in the wire. “It’s horrible, we’re all such outdoorsy people and we love animals. We see a lot of them coming around the park. Nobody feels worse for this than us.”

Chad said the group only learned about the situation this week through the media and wanted to come forward, both to apologize and to let the public know it’s learned a lesson and won’t be putting up baskets in the park again.

The eagle was found dangling from a wire by a family in the park on Nov. 13 and was rescued by the Orphaned Wildlife (OWL) Rehabilitation Society.

The eagle wasn’t seriously injured by the wire and was successfully released back into the wild last Thursday.

Chad said the local disc golf club also has plans to make amends, raising money at an upcoming tournament next week to donate back to OWL.

“We’re looking forward to being able to make amends a little bit for what happened,” he told the NOW. “We’re responsible, thoughtful people.”

Chad also said the group feels bad for parks staff, suggesting they would have known the unauthorized baskets were in the park for some time, and now may look bad.

But the group also sees the recent incident as a larger issue for the fledgling sport.

Chad suggested there isn’t enough space for the sport around the Lower Mainland, noting there are just two 18-hole disc golf courses in the region.

The Burnaby club has 62 members.

He said the lack of space forces clubs to get creative to get 18 holes of play, which was the case at Robert Burnaby Park.

Clubs are looking at ball golf courses as an option, while locally the Burnaby club is looking at space on Burnaby Mountain.

Chad suggested for the sport to find enough places top play, clubs will need a partner offering the space.

Adding to the difficulty is the expense of the sport.

A proper basket costs more than $500.

Chad noted the baskets in the park that caught the eagle were about $30 each.

Meanwhile, the club has also reached out to OWL directly.

Rob Hope, with OWL Rehabilitation Society, said he also spoke to the group and appreciates the honesty from the club.

“That takes a lot of guts to come forward in a situation like this,” he said.

Hope added he’s glad to hear the club has learned from the mistake and intends to change how it plays the game so it doesn’t happen again.