UPDATE: Three heron chicks nursed to health by Roanoke wildlife organization

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Update: According to Sabrina Garvin with Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center in Roanoke, all three heron chicks were successfully released back to the wild on Friday, August 7th 2015. The birds were released near a pond on Bent Mountain in Roanoke.

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ROANOKE (WSLS 10) - Three birds of a species not often seen up close are getting a second chance thanks to the Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center (SVWC).

Three heron chicks were brought to the wildlife center in Roanoke after being rescued in Christiansburg. They were carefully nursed back to health indoors for several weeks and released in an outdoor enclosure Firday.

It was the last step before they can be released back into the wild.

SVWC owner, Sabrina Garvin, said the weeks of hard work were worth the payoff.

"We're here to put the babies back into the proper habitat. And we want to know that they are viable. And it's one of the greatest feelings. It's exhausting feeding these babies every day, but to know that we've done it correctly and that they are back out there and they're living and you see them the following year, it's a wonderful feeling," Garvin explained.

Garvin said all three of the herons continue to show improvement. They'll be released at the end of August.