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Research
Participate in Research
Researchers are interested in studying wildlife and wildlife rehabilitation and they need our help. Click on one of the below studies to learn more and see what you can contribute!
Antimicrobal and Probiotic Use
VETERINARY TREATMENT OF WILDLIFE
Plains Spotted Skunk Distribution and Threats
COVID-19 and Zoonotic Exposure Research
Antimicrobal and Probiotic use in Wildlife Rehabilitation
Partners for Wildlife is hoping to learn more about the current antimicrobial and probiotic use within wildlife rehabilitation in the United States. “Antimicrobial” is an overarching term that includes any agent that kills microorganisms such as fungi, bacteria, viruses, or protozoa. “Probiotics” are live microorganisms, including bacteria and yeasts, that can confer a health benefit on the host when administered in appropriate amounts.
That’s why we are reaching out for your help! Because your experiences will help us understand the use of antimicrobials by the wildlife community, we are asking for your responses to the attached survey. The results of this anonymous survey will be used to understand the frequency and usage of antimicrobials and probiotics in wildlife rehabilitation.
Who are they?
Partners for Wildlife is an initiative of The Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota. P4W works with wildlife rehabilitators and veterinarians to improve animal welfare and care in rehabilitation.
A couple of notes:
- The survey will remain open through March 7th, 2022
- Your answers are anonymous; your individual responses will not be shared with anyone.
- The survey takes 5-10 minutes. Only one response is needed per rehabilitator or facility.
- We advise that the person who fills out this survey is the permit holder for your facility or the person most familiar with the antibiotic and antifungal practices of your facility.
- We appreciate your time and know that it’s valuable!
If you would prefer to fill out a paper copy of this survey, or if you have any questions, concerns, or technical problems, please contact Rachel Amato at amato026@umn.edu.
Rachel Amato DVM, CWR
Partners for Wildlife Veterinary Intern
Follow this link to the Survey:
https://umn.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6mr2PXMrOVSUd5Y
Rachel Amato DVM, CWR
Partners for Wildlife Veterinary Intern
Veterinary treatment of Wildlife
Veterinary treatment of wildlife can be varied and oftentimes inconsistent. To further understand reasons as to why that is, the following survey contains a field of questions that will take 5-10 minutes to complete. There are separate surveys for veterinarians, wildlife rehabilitators, and veterinary technicians and nurses that range from treatment, payment, and management to opinions and other aspects surrounding wildlife veterinary medicine. After collecting this data, the goal is to draw conclusions and see the areas most in need of addressing to ultimately increase the capability of veterinarians to provide treatment to wildlife. Thank you in advance for completing this, all responses are very much appreciated!
Veterinary nurse/technician Survey
End Date: March 31st, 2022
Justin Kozma – Penn State 2nd Year Veterinary Student
Plains Spotted Skunk Distribution and Threats
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is assessing if the plains spotted skunk should be federally protected. We would like to know if you have ever encountered plains spotted skunks in your rehabilitation work and, if so, why the animals were brought to you (e.g., car strike, dog attack, orphaned young), so that we can learn more about the distribution of the subspecies and the threats they face.
We are asking wildlife rehabilitators in Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin, or Wyoming to share any of the following plains spotted skunk information that you may have to assist in this process:
1. County-level location from which plains spotted skunk patient(s) originated. This is the locality that the animal was found, not the address of the finder or the wildlife rehabilitator providing care.
2. Reason for admittance (e.g., hit by car, dog attack, orphaned young, canine distemper).
3. Any condition notes related to the patient while in your care.
4. For patients that were released or relocated, county-level release location and year of release.
Submission instructions and complete Request for Information (includes images of the plains spotted skunk and similar species)
COVID Rehabilitation Restrictions Survey
University of Georgia student, and aspiring wildlife rehabilitator, Lindsey has developed a short survey for her senior thesis. Our hope is to better understand the impacts of the COVID pandemic has had on your ability to rehabilitate wildlife. We have heard that there are restrictions in place for some states, there are more or fewer animals being admitted because of different reasons, that some places still remain closed – we hope that this survey will help us understand the overall impacts. Please spare a few minutes to fill out and *share* our survey at https://bit.ly/COVIDwildlife. Our goal is to get as many people to participate by the end of the year so Lindsey can begin data analysis in the spring semester. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me at myabsley@uga.edu
COVID-19 and Zoonotic Exposure Survey
Dr. Anne Rimoin and her team in the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health Department of Epidemiology invite you to participate in the Veterinary and Zoonotic Surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) and Other Coronaviruses Study, a study of animal healthcare and welfare workers, to assess their potential exposures to SARS-CoV-2 and other zoonotic pathogens, clinical symptoms, mental health, and attitudes and practices associated with the pandemic response. The study will consist of online monthly questionnaires (est. time of completion is 30 min for the baseline survey and 10 min for all follow-up surveys), with the potential for future engagement for antibody testing and other research as funding becomes available, should you indicate your interest in being contacted for that. Through participation in this study, you will:
- Receive periodic summary reports of study findings
- Have an opportunity to participate in future COVID-related and other zoonoses-related research (including COVID-19 antibody testing, should funding become available)
- Inform public health understanding of infection risks to veterinary workers and how to best protect them
Dr. Rimoin is very interested in building a long-term partnership with animal healthcare and welfare workers to engage with on future COVID-19 research as well as future research about zoonotic diseases. Her team hopes to use our findings from this research to inform One Health policy efforts to protect animal healthcare and welfare workers from infection with zoonotic diseases. For more information and to enroll, please visit this link. Additionally, the study flyer with more information is attached.
Mange trends in North America through space and time
We are wildlife disease researchers looking to combine records from rehabilitation centers across the US and Canada of animals that have been treated for sarcoptic mange (mite Sarcoptes scabiei) to assess patterns in mange cases through space and time. Records of mammals that have not been affected by mange are also sought to act as a reference. We are hoping for records with information including: species, pick-up location, year, month, mange afflicted, mite identification information (if available), symptom descriptions, among others. Facilities/rehabbers with >2 years of records are of particular interest, as we hope to compare trends through time. Please feel free to contact Drs. Christopher Kozakiewicz and Alynn Martin at northamericamangeproject@gmail.com with questions or comments.
Comparative Ocular Study
The Comparative Ocular Pathology Laboratory of Wisconsin is looking for specimens for their research library. They are specifically looking for formalin – fixed heads of recently dead (no more than three hours) of the following:
- Screech Owl head
Please contact Dick Dubielzig at dubielzr@svm.vetmed.wisc.edu or visit http://www.vetmed.wisc.edu/pbs/dubielzig/pages/coplow/advice.html for more information.
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