27 June 2012November 4, 2021

It’s Time to Get the Lead Out for Wildlife

Guest Blog Post from Jeff Miller, Center for Biological Diversity Have you ever held an eagle or loon that’s been poisoned by lead? It’s heart-breaking to see these majestic birds wracked by toxins that sicken and often kill. Veterinarians and wildlife rehab centers have been on the front lines for years coping with countless wildlife lead poisoning cases around the country. It’s a needless epidemic: millions of birds are poisoned every year by eating spent lead shot, fragments of lead hunting ammunition or fishing tackle left in the wild. (Lead also endangers the health of people who eat game meat...

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01 June 2012November 4, 2021

Bye Bye Buzzard

By Karen Tannenbaum Karen is a California rehabilitator who usually volunteers at the Wetlands & Wildlife Care Center in the US but is spending the summer as a volunteer at an Israeli wildlife rehabilitation and education center, Hai Bar Yotvata.  Since IWRC currently has no Israeli members (hopefully we will soon) I thought the membership would be interested in the current state of rehabilitation in the country.  Regardless of where we are, we always regard our animals and practices as normal, be that kangaroos and possums, raccoons and redtails, or pandas and cincerous vultures.  By sharing each others “normal” we...

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An American in Israel
25 May 2012November 4, 2021

An American in Israel

  By Karen Tannenbaum Karen is a California rehabilitator who usually volunteers at the Wetlands & Wildlife Care Center in the US but is spending the summer as a volunteer at an Israeli wildlife rehabilitation and education center, Hai Bar Yotvata.  Since IWRC currently has no Israeli members (hopefully we will soon) I thought the membership would be interested in the current state of rehabilitation in the country.  Regardless of where we are, we always regard our animals and practices as normal, be that kangaroos and possums, raccoons and redtails, or pandas and cincerous vultures.  By sharing each others “normal”...

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25 May 2012November 4, 2021

Bringing Science and Collaboration into Wildlife Health Management

National Wildlife Health Center Strategic Science Plan  http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/information_desk/NWHC%20Strategic%20Science%20Plan.pdf By Kristin Madden, IWRC instructor and Chair of The Wildlife Society’s Wildlife Disease Working Group subcommittee to review the NWHC Plan   In February 2012, a subcommittee of The Wildlife Society’s Wildlife Disease Working Group was formed to review and comment on the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Wildlife Health Center’s (NWHC) “Science Strategy: Advancing Wildlife and Ecosystem Health for the Next Decade.” The NWHC Strategic Science Plan is a broad document with three major goals: developing local, regional and international partnerships; creating information support systems; and identifying wildlife health threats. Each of...

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13 April 2012November 4, 2021

Up For Discussion – Nonnative Species

  Up For Discussion The upcoming issue of JWR will feature a Letter to the Editor questioning the ethics of treating and releasing non-native, invasive species. In this particular case, the species in question is Virginia opossums in California (introduced in 1910, according to Jameson & Peeters (California Mammals, University of California Press, 1988)). But rehabilitators across the U.S. are familiar with the dilemma of caring for European starlings and English (house) sparrows. And this concern is not limited to North America. In Australia the problem may be European rabbits, red foxes, and cane toads. Africa’s invasive species include the...

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01 April 2012November 4, 2021

Attending the 11th International Effects of Oil on Wildlife Conference

By Susan Wylie, IWRC Board Member Last month I attended the 11th International Effects of Oil on Wildlife conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. This conference was attended by a variety of professionals including government agencies, wildlife rehabilitators, veterinarians, biologists, researchers and oil response companies. With oil spills occurring more frequently around the globe, I attended this symposium to acquire a better understanding of what is required to respond to oil spills and to determine what I could do to help with a response effort . Sadly, oil spills happen every day and it is likely that as a rehabilitator, I...

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23 December 2011November 4, 2021

Mega-Agriculture and Wildlife Health

At the 2011 IWRC Symposium the Keynote Speaker was Dr Greg Harrison.  He gave a fabulous talk about mega-agriculture and its far reaching effects, yes, even into wildlife rehabilitation. We are pleased to provide a full copy of his speech here! I highly recommend listening to the full hour below, but you can also access a short 5 minute introduction at the Harrison’s Pet Food YouTube Page. Enjoy! Kai

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22 December 2011November 4, 2021

Home by the Holidays

Update January 10 2012: The puffin has been released in the Grand Banks region near other puffins. A rehab center just outside of Montreal has been in the news recently, due to an unusual visitor, an immature Atlantic puffin a long way from home.  

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01 December 2011November 4, 2021

Kakapo Ambassador

Many rehabilitators deal with species that are not endangered, or at least still have a number of living members.  But regardless of whether we rehab red squirrels or hyacinth macaws, we feel the specter of population loss.  While not truly a rehab case, the below article is an interesting account of one member of one species with only 129 members.  It highlights the important role we rehabilitators play in the protection and healing of threatened and endangered species. – Kai By Barbara Heidenreich Austin, Nov 30, 2011 – Sirocco is one of 129 Kakapo left in the world. This large,...

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01 December 2011November 4, 2021

The Gulls Runneth Over

By Susan Wylie In early June, Le Nichoir, a wild bird rehabilitation center in Hudson, Quebec received 240 nestling and fledgling ring-billed gulls and 1 herring gull chick after the birds fell off the roofs of some industrial buildings in Montreal. Unfortunately this is becoming a common issue in the area with gulls nesting in inappropriate areas such as on flat roofed, industrial buildings. These initially offer the adults an apparently great nesting site with few predators to harass their chicks. Unfortunately, there are other problems that can result in high levels of chick mortality.  After many attempts at encouraging...

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