One of IWRC’s fabulous volunteers is Dr. Ulrike Streicher DVM, a wildlife veterinarian and currently Courtesy Research Associate at the University of Oregon. Dr. Streicher has spent many years in Southeast Asia rescuing and rehabilitating a variety of wildlife and will be sharing some of her story through a series of blogs with us. Enjoy the first segment on her time in Vietnam, a country that was then and still is now an epicenter for illegal wildlife trade. I started my wildlife career in Vietnam in 1997 as the zoological advisor of the then newly established governmental wildlife rescue center...
Board President Sue Wylie shares tidbits about her life with wildlife
Please share an early/childhood experience that was pivotal to your personal relationship to wildlife. I have always preferred being outdoors and loved nature. My parents brought me camping every weekend May to October starting at the age of two weeks until I was a teen. My most memorable moment was when I was 8 years old seeing my dad jumping out of the car to capture an injured Canada goose that was running in one of the fields. He captured the bird, brought it to the car and plopped it on my mom’s knee (she was less than amused). We...
Board member Kim Poisson shares some tidbits with us
Please share an early/childhood experience that was pivotal to your personal relationship to wildlife. My father found an injured crow when I was a child. We helped him recover from his injuries and when he was released he lived near our house for years, bringing me trinkets and creating a desire in me to help injured wildlife. How did you initially become involved with IWRC and why did you choose to become involved on a board level? I joined the Course Development Committee and was asked to join the board by a past board member. I felt that IWRC...
Recent Journal Abstracts Issue 36(1)
The full papers can be found in the Journal of Wildlife Rehabilitation 36(1), available to all IWRC members. Strategies for captive rearing and reintroduction of orphaned bears John J. Beecham, I. Kati Loeffler, and Richard A. Beausoleil Abstract: Placing orphan bears in captive-rearing facilities and releasing them back to the wild is a management option that has been used for decades. This option has conservation implications that extend beyond obvious welfare benefits, including public support for management programs, maintenance of genetic diversity, and restoration of bear populations. However, the method is infrequently used because of concerns about survival, ethics, and...
Practicing Wildlife Rehabilitation Within Legal Restrictions
BIO Dr Elizabeth Mullineaux BVM&S, DVM&S, CertSHP, MRCVS Liz is director at Capital Veterinary Services, science advisor at Secret World Wildlife Rescue, and a veterinary surgeon with Vets Now. She is also an active member of the British Veterinary Association and editor of numerous BSAVA Manuals, including Wildlife Casualties. This post is a revised version of the paper Liz presented at the 2014 BWRC Symposium. Legislation affecting the care of wildlife can be a minefield for both vets and rehabilitators, risking prosecution for both if not followed correctly. Legal responsibilities are not always clearly outlined in all countries, so it is...
Research Byte: Post release survival of rehabilitated Eurasian badger cubs (Meles meles)
BIO Adam Grogan Adam is on staff at the RSPCA, IWRC Board Vice President, Vice Chair of The Mammal Society for Britain and Ireland, and on the Executive Committee of the British Council for Wildlife Rehabilitation (BWRC). He has experience surveying and radio-tracking a number of mammal species, including badgers (Meles meles), polecats (Mustela putorius), mink (Neovison vison), and water voles (Arvicola terrestris). This post is a summary of the paper Adam presented at the 2014 BWRC Symposium. The RSPCA has been interested in the survival of rehabilitated wildlife for over 10 years and has conducted a number of post-release...
Consider Animal Welfare When Generating Center Income: Part 1
BIO Fran Bell I am a wildlife rehabber from Perth, Western Australia. Over the last 6 years I have practiced wildlife rehabilitation in Australia, South Africa, and the UK; and worked with marsupials, placental mammals, birds and reptiles. I have undertaken several internships, including a year with penguins and other seabirds at SANCCOB in Capetown. I am a member of the IWRC and the West Australian Wildlife Rehabilitation Council. I hold two certificates in Wildlife Management, have been trained in venomous snake capture and release, have Certified Wildlife Rehabber status and am also a certified Marine Mammal Medic. In my...
Board Member Christopher Boykin Shares Some Tidbits with Us
Please share an early/childhood experience that was pivotal to your personal relationship to wildlife. I grew up on an old one classroom school yard property in central Mississippi that abutted a 500-acre peach farm. I remember the first time i happened upon a three-toed box turtle and wondered with delight at all of her colors on her head and forelimbs. I also recall the day I was walking under the oak trees and came face to face with the web of a spiny orb weaver. I raised my hand to tear it down (I was a little boy) and then...
Lets #GetTheLeadOut of Our Wildlife
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Let’s Get the Lead Out of Our Wildlife Eugene, OR August 24, 2015 This month The International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council (IWRC) published a position statement advocating for the elimination of lead released into the environment via lead based ammunition and fishing tackle. Effective alternatives, such as steel shot, copper bullets, and tungsten fishing weights, are available in North American and European markets and becoming more widely accessible elsewhere. Raptors and scavengers, including vultures, condors, and eagles are unintentionally poisoned when they eat the remains of animals hunted using lead ammunition. Loons and swans directly consume lead shot...
Walter Crawford
Some people’s lives can be summed up with one lofty quotation. Walter Crawford was not such a person. He was a man of simple needs and complex dreams. Walter is best described not by a quotation, but by the fortune in a cookie: “A wise man knows everything. A shrewd man knows everybody.” Walter may have had to kiss a lot of toads to make his dreams come true, but he, himself, remained a prince. Click here to read an interview with Walter from 1998.