Rehabilitate & Release

As Wildlife Rehabilitators, our primary goal is to rehabilitate and release as many wild animals as possible that come to us for care. It is also one of the best parts of our jobs! As you can imagine, wild animals come to us after some extremely traumatic experiences and with many injuries or health concerns. Whether they are babies who have been orphaned for days and are suffering from severe dehydration and emaciation, or adults who have sustained an injury from an accident, we see animals on their worst days. Depending on their health concerns, each animal is given an individual treatment plan catered to their needs. The process may be long, but in the end we are always hoping for a successful outcome and release!

Throughout the rehabilitation process, animals are monitored closely to ensure that they are healing well and treatment plans are modified if necessary. Eventually, those animals move outside to pre-release and reconditioning enclosures to prepare for release. In these enclosures they are improving their physical and cognitive abilities, as well as getting used to the weather. After the Wildlife Rehabilitators deem their skills appropriate for release and they are given a good bill of health, the wildlife in our care are released back to the wild! Each species has different requirements for release which are related to their natural history and what they need to have the best chance at survival. Depending on the species needs, some are taken directly back to where they were found and others are taken to an appropriate location with good access to food, water, and shelter. Though you wouldn’t expect it, the best releases are the ones where they don’t look back at you, but run happily away to restart their lives in the wild!