Wildlife sanctuary owners have thanked football fans and their own supporters for rallying to help bald eagle Kayla, the Crystal Palace Football Club mascot.

A GoFundMe page was created last month after the much loved eagle fell ill at her home at Eagle Heights Wildlife Foundation near Eynsford, and quickly reached its £3,000 target.

Kayla had suffered seizures and has since been diagnosed with gout - a serious condition in birds of prey - and veterinary treatment is ongoing to help the 26-year-old raptor on the road to recovery.

"One day it's good, one day it's bad, but the vet costs have been covered," said Sally Ames co founder of Eagle Heights. "A lot of the fans have helped out, and a lot of them said they wanted to help with the foundation as well.

"All the fans have been amazing and so have Crystal Palace Football Club. They've helped a lot.

"They really know her well. It's the tenth year she's been the official mascot - we're just updating on social media and we've been blown away by the support, both from visitors and football supporters."

Kayla's health battle is just the latest challenge in a life packed with incident.

Born in the wilds of Canada in 1994, Kayla and her sister were stolen from their natural habitat as youngsters, but were later rescued when the authorities were alerted to the illegal theft.

Efforts to release the bird back into the wild proved unsuccessful. Having been released, the two eagles made their home on top of a University Campus - becoming a nuisance to students - and showed no signs that they could hunt for their own food.

Attempts to take them to a rehabilitation centre and other zoos didn't work out either, due to their aggression, which sadly led to Kayla’s sister being euthanised.

Kayla was close to meeting the same fate, until Eagle Heights was contacted - due to the fact the Foundation already had a bald eagle from a Zoo in Canada and were known for their good practice with behavioural issues - and in 1998 Kayla arrived safely in Eynsford.

She went on to find fame as Crystal Palace's mascot, and is now in her tenth year representing the club - but even that brought its own difficulties.

In 2015 she was attacked by Charlton Athletic supporter Daniel Boylett, who was later convicted of trying to punch her during Charlton's 4-1 loss to Palace in the Capital One Cup third round tie.

But Kayla's carrier has seen an equal amount of highs - in 2008 she was photographed for the UK cover of the Kings of Leon album 'Only by the Night', and has been used on film sets including that of Clash of the Titans.

Her lengthy back story was outlined in a recent post on the Eagle Heights Facebook page, which fans can follow for further updates.

"Kayla has been the most amazing Ambassador for wildlife over the last 22 years," added the post. "She has also been the live Mascot for Crystal Palace Football Club, this year will be her 10th anniversary!

"She has always been very special to the Foundation and for Chris, her keeper, an extremely strong bond has built up. Many visitors comment on the love they have for each other. This bond has now developed between Kayla and Chris’s son Jake.

"We would like to thank you all for your donations so far and all the amazing good wishes you have sent us for Kayla. We will naturally keep you all updated every step of the way.

"We do still need your help to manage through this incredibly difficult time, not just for Kayla but all the animals in our care."

Since reaching the target for Kayla, Eagle Heights has also launched a Crowdfunder page to help it bounce back from the closure during coronavirus.

"We're coping," added Sally. "It's not easy for any zoos at the moment, but our site is very small. We're working towards opening on July 2, but we're just working on social distancing measures.

"All being well we will reopen with pre-booked time slots. The guidelines are quite strict - it's a lot easier for places like Chester Zoo."

Click here to visit the Crowdfunder page.

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