Home > Make a Difference in a Few Hours > Wildlife Rehabilitation

WILDLIFE REHAB: RESCUE, REHABILITATE AND RELEASE INJURED WILDLIFE

by Vicki Johnson
wildlife rehab

The goal of wildlife rehabilitation volunteers is to care for and treat injured, ill, or orphaned wildlife until they can be returned to their native habitat. Is it often human impact on wildlife that causes the need for wildlife rehab.

Estimates indicate more than 75% of injured wildlife has been affected in some manner by humans. For example, injured wildlife can be impacted by loss of habitat, collisions with vehicles, unrestrained pets, poisonings, collisions with windows, non-target trapping or shooting, and sometimes by well-meaning people who unnecessarily remove baby animals from the wild.

Collectively, wildlife rehabbers treat hundreds of thousands of injured animals each year. The overall release rate for rehabilitated animals is 55% for birds, 70% for mammals, and 60% for reptiles and amphibians.

Wildlife rehabbers provide educational programs to more than 8 million people each year, in an effort to reduce the impact people have on native wildlife. Wildlife rehabilitation specialists teach people that natural habitat must be preserved for wildlife to survive. Wildlife rehabbers also answer hundreds of thousands of wildlife-related telephone calls.

Wildlife rehabilitation is usually a labor of love. Most licensed wildlife rehabbers are overloaded with work and welcome assistance from volunteers. Contact your local wildlife rehabilitation center to find out what you can do to help. Many of the wildlife rehab volunteer opportunities are quite flexible.

Since most wildlife rehabilitation centers are nonprofit organizations, volunteers actually do most of the work. While state and federal permits are required to perform certain kinds of wildlife rehabilitation activities, volunteers can be trained to feed and assist the injured wildlife. Specific rehab regulations vary by state and region.

In any case, there are many other jobs associated with running a wildlife rehabilitation center that are available to volunteers, including record keeping and office work, answering telephones, raising funds, educating the public and assisting with special events.

Other wildlife rehab volunteers may choose to help by cleaning cages or building special enclosures often needed to allow animals to become strong enough to be returned to the wild.

The largest demand for volunteers is during "baby season" when wildlife rehabbers are caring for large numbers of orphaned wildlife. Often, volunteers also can be trained to safely transport injured wildlife to a wildlife rehabber.

Sometimes, people with good intentions take baby animals from the wild unnecessarily. Volunteers can help teach people that wildlife parents are often taking care of their youngsters even though they seem to be absent.

For more information, the National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association provides excellent insight on wildlife rehabilitation. You can also learn 13 simple ways to avoid harming wildlife.