Following in the footprints of the bears and in the wake of the orcas that have decorated Vancouver streets in past years, Vancouverites are getting ready to welcome a new animal: the eagle.

Eight-foot-high fibreglass eagles that appear to soar in mid-flight will be painted by local artists and then placed in spots around the city as part of the Eagles in the City project by the B.C. Lions Society.

"It's a natural progression," said Stephen Miller, the Lions Society President. "The orcas represented water and the spirit bear represented the land, so we thought the third sculpture in the trilogy should represent the sky."

The first Eagle sculptures will be placed in public locations in Vancouver and other B.C. communities starting in late 2008, and will be on display until the first months of 2010, including when Vancouver hosts the 2010 Olympic Games.

Donors can sponsor a particular eagle for $5,000 and create a design with a local artist. That usually covers the costs of the art pieces, but after display they are auctioned off.

The Lions raised about $700,000 for its Easter Seal operations with children with disabilities and the Canuck Place children's hospice when orcas were placed around Vancouver and Victoria in 2004.

And last year some 200 Kermode bears -- a black bear on the B.C. Coast that has white fur because of a rare genetic trait -- were decorated and displayed in places around B.C. That project raised over $900,000.

Miller said he was hoping for a few hundred thousand dollars in this project.

"I'd be very happy with that much," he told CTV News. "I'm very pleased with what's going to be one of the most successful public art projects in the world."

The project is modeled on similar projects, like Calgary's "Udderly Art" project, which placed a herd of painted cows around the city in 2000.

A similar program that put Moose around the city of Toronto in 2001 raised more than $1.4-million for Canada's Olympic athletes and local Toronto charities.

Miller wouldn't say what the next animal the B.C. Lions would put on B.C.'s streets. "We have no comment on that right now," he said.