What is Wildlife Rehabilitation

WILDLIFE REHABILITATION IN PENNSYLVANIA

What Is Wildlife Rehabilitation?

Wildlife rehabilitation is a system of caring for injured, sick, and orphaned wild animals with the goal of releasing these animals back into their natural habitat.
Wildlife rehabilitation is also a public service, providing the public with a humane, legal way of dealing with wildlife in need that they encounter.

What Does A Rehabilitator Do?

Most of the time is spent feeding animals and cleaning their cages.

Orphaned Wildlife: Orphaned baby birds need constant feeding and cleaning throughout the day. Baby mammals need to be fed every few hours around the clock. Special attention is given to monitoring their growth, feeding and nutritional requirements, temperature, and humidity. All of this must be done with minimal handling so the animal doesn’t become attached to people, remembering that the ultimate goal is releasing that animal back to the wild.

Injured and Sick Wildlife: Rehabilitators work closely with the veterinarians in diagnosing injury and illness and developing a program of intensive care, medication, feeding, exercise, physical therapy, and pre-release conditioning tailored for the animal.

Public Education: One of the most important tasks as a Rehabilitator is educating the people who call you for information or help. Many people find animals and immediately assume the animal is in trouble. The Rehabilitator listens carefully and asks questions to determine if that animal is truly in need. If it is not, it is the Rehabilitator who instructs the person how to put the animal back and why it is important to do so. If the animal does need help, the Rehabilitator instructs the finder on how to properly contain and transport the animal to him/her..

Public Outreach: Many Rehabilitators give programs to schools and other organizations to educate the public.

The Laws

In Pennsylvania, it is illegal to possess wild animals without a permit, even if your intention is to try to help it. The Pennsylvania Game Commission regulates these laws and issues permits for rehabilitation. You can work with one group of animals, mammals, passerines (song birds) or raptors, or with all of them. Additional requirements must be met to care for animals that commonly carry rabies: raccoons, fox, skunks, woodchucks, bats and coyotes.
If you plan on working with birds, a separate permit is issued through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Using wildlife in public education programs require additional permits.