Our Member Spotlights feature our incredible members across the world, rehabilitating baby penguins in South Africa, sea turtles in Cyprus, bats in the United States, brown bears in Kosovo, and beyond. We invite you to visit our map to meet more members and click here if you are an IWRC member who would like to be featured. Name: Letitia Labbie Organization: Acadiana Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Location: Youngsville, Louisiana, United States IWRC: Hi Letitia! So, tell us a little bit about yourself… Letitia: I am one of four federally permitted Rehabilitators in the state of Louisiana. I founded Acadiana Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation in...
11 August 2020February 8, 2022Steven Deheeger
IWRC Member Spotlight: Lebanese Wildlife
Our Member Spotlights feature our incredible members across the world, rehabilitating baby penguins in South Africa, sea turtles in Cyprus, bats in the United States, brown bears in Kosovo, and beyond. We invite you to visit our map to meet more members and click here if you are an IWRC member who would like to be featured. Name: Samara P. El-Haddad Organization: Lebanese Wildlife Location: Beirut, Lebanon Important Update: On Tuesday, August 4, 2020, several days after Lebanese Wildlife completed their IWRC Member Spotlight, Beirut was hit by two massive explosions. The devastation caused by these explosions has been far-reaching and Lebanese Wildlife was...
24 July 2020November 4, 2021Max
Happy National Zoo Keeper Week! What does this have to do with wildlife rehabilitation?
This week (July 19th through 25th) the American Association of Zoo Keepers celebrates National Zoo Keeper Week (NZKW), focusing “on the need to protect and preserve our wildlife and vanishing habitats via conservation messages created by their institutions.” The debate about wildlife in captivity is a complicated issue that is being talked about more and more (link 1, link 2, link 3). Long term captivity is under constant scrutiny by those involved in the rehabilitation and zoo fields. Of foremost concern is the fact that animals placed in zoos via rehabilitators are in fact, wild, and unaccustomed to the challenges...
21 July 2020July 26, 2022Julissa
Fire Season Tips: Triage
(Part II of a short series) Animals in fires suffer from direct thermal injury as well as injuries from inhalation of chemicals and particulate debris. Certainly burns to the skin are the most obvious, but burns and damage to the respiratory tract from smoke inhalation should not be underestimated. If an animal is close enough to a fire to be burned, it has experienced respiratory injury. If wildfires involve human structures, the smoke plume may contain a mixture of concentrated toxins from incinerated plastics, petroleum products, and other chemicals. The particles can cause primary toxicity and pulmonary damage; external particles...
14 July 2020July 26, 2022KatieMcInnis
Fire Season Tips: Preparation
Use the following tips to help get yourself and/or your center ready for fire season. Make or review your plan; Organize emergency information; Do a facility check; Know the terrain; Have a drill...click title to continue reading.
10 July 2020November 4, 2021Julissa
Spotlight on New Staff Member, Micayla Harland
Micayla is our new behind the scenes bookkeeper. Welcome Micayla! Please share an early/childhood experience that was pivotal to your personal relationship to wildlife. I grew up part-time (child of divorce) on a small hobby farm in the Manitoba prairies. We had a couple horses and a few dozen head of cattle. One memory of this time that will never fade in my mind happened when I was about 10 years old. My dad gathered me up from the living room where I was reading a book and made me go outside with him. I had no idea what was...
15 June 2020November 4, 2021Kai
Van Doninck Scholarship Open for Applications
June 15, 2020 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE [Eugene, Oregon] — Dr. Helene Marie Van Doninck, is remembered by friends and colleagues as a dedicated, passionate and determined veterinarian, and also as a positive and effective force on behalf of wildlife. She co-founded the Cobequid Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre (CWRC) outside Truro Nova Scotia in 2001. She worked tirelessly to eradicate lead ammunition and tackle for hunting and angling purposes and won support from all sides. Her sense of humor, depth of knowledge, and understanding of people gained her entry to circles that could be otherwise unwelcoming to a veterinarian and avid wildlife rehabilitator,...
09 June 2020November 4, 2021Jayanthi Kallam
Engaging with the Public During COVID-19
Rehabilitators often act as human/wildlife conflict mitigation specialists. We all (rehabbers) have the same problems and deal with the same issues, we are just in different parts of the world! Conflict mitigation cannot be ignored, especially during a time of crisis. Speaking with the Public Set aside time for the calls so that you are mentally/emotionally prepared Listen to the caller’s concerns Have them explain the problem Keep your frustration out of the conversation Have them send pictures of the issue Offer to visit on site Be understanding and reassuring “We are here for you.” “We are concerned about public health.”...
08 June 2020November 4, 2021Kai
IWRC + NWRA Statement on Wildlife Rehabilitation During COVID-19
June 8, 2020 JOINT STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE [Eugene, Oregon] — The National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association (NWRA) and The International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council (IWRC) find that taxa-specific protocols, based on scientific evidence and region-specific risk assessments, should serve as the basis for an informed approach to managing the risk of disease spread and for formulating any restrictions on wildlife rehabilitation. “Wildlife rehabilitation plays an important role in managing human-wildlife interactions. This management, which includes appropriate human and animal health monitoring, becomes more important during a global pandemic like COVID-19” states IWRC executive director Kai Williams. The IWRC and...