WildCare

Statement of Need

Human habitation continues to expand into the wildlands that surround our urban centers, creating shared environments for people and wildlife. An unfortunate consequence of these shifting boundaries is the impact on our wild animal neighbors. As a full-service, open-admission wildlife hospital with a staff veterinarian, WildCare bears witness to these impacts first-hand; we are consistently the first place that thousands of Bay Area residents turn during wildlife emergencies.

Nearly 90% of patients come to us injured as a result of negative interactions with humans. We treat more than 3,000 injured, ill, and orphaned wildlife from as many as 200 different species annually. Our primary goal is to restore all of these patients to full health so they can survive on their own in the wild. More broadly, our goal extends to wildlife preservation; by treating individual animals, we play a role in helping to maintain species populations, which in turn supports healthy ecosystems that benefit both humans and animals.

WildCare’s Wildlife Hospital

Our senior Medical Staff of five provide the highest quality care for our wildlife patients. Upon intake, patients receive a comprehensive diagnosis and treatment plan by our staff, as well as individualized meal plans and housing configurations based on their species and medical needs, throughout their recovery. We treat a variety of conditions—including more severe injuries that require surgery and specialized care, like wound sutures, fracture setting, or physical therapy—using the most current veterinary medical techniques. Our full-time staff veterinarian ensures we can offer these specialty procedures in-house and as soon as possible; under her guidance, we’ve also upgraded and expanded our treatment protocols using the latest advancements in wildlife medicine and care.

Our Wildlife Hospital offers services year-round; our clinic accepts patients from 9 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday, and we also offer after-hour emergency services and Hotline operators who answer calls 365 days a year. During “baby season” (April - August), when our hospital experiences higher patient volumes from the hundreds of orphaned baby animals we receive, we hire seasonal part-time wildlife technicians to ensure we meet the demands of our wild animal patients and the communities we serve.

Hospital Volunteer/Intern Program

In support of these activities, our Wildlife Hospital also relies on the commitment of more than 300 trained volunteers/interns. Our Hospital Volunteer and Intern program is absolutely essential to our program’s success, and our leveled training program offers clearly defined paths and advancement opportunities supported by best practices in administering wildlife medicine training materials, modules and tests. Our volunteers who advance to new roles (Team Lead, Shift Supervisor, Advanced Intern) help ensure continuity of care and safe protocols—while representing a new generation of wildlife advocates and professionals.

Industry Expertise and Accomplishments

Together, our Medical Staff has more than 50 years of experience in wildlife medicine. They are active participants in the National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association and the California Council for Wildlife Rehabilitation; they also hold a membership in the Oiled Wildlife Care Network, a recognized international leader in oiled wildlife response facilitated through UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. WildCare’s Medical Staff also provided emergency response relief during the 2018 and 2019 Northern California fires. Our research has brought WildCare into the research laboratories at the University of California at Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and California Fish and Wildlife’s Investigations laboratory.

Statement of Need

With the rapid and devastating impacts of climate change, there has never been a more urgent need for environmental education than now; and yet, current school curricula in this area is often severely lacking or simply nonexistent due to limited resources and financial constraints. WildCare is uniquely positioned to bridge that gap by offering experiential programming that inspires students to think critically about the natural world and their role in protecting it—all while learning important scientific principles that align with California’s Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Our goal is to foster a future generation of informed, conscientious, and engaged environmental stewards who will work together to protect wildlife and our shared environments.

WildCare's Environmental Education Program

Led by our Director of Education, WildCare’s Education Department staff of four—along with more than 40 highly trained volunteers—delivers a standards-based environmental curriculum that empowers students to learn science by doing science.

Our Terwilliger Nature Education programs encompass four main offerings that promote science-based learning about wildlife and the environment. These offerings include guide-directed Nature Hikes to explore the characteristic habitats and rich biodiversity on the trails and open spaces of Marin County; our Nature Van, or mobile science exhibit, that delivers a wide array of taxidermy and engaging bio-facts directly to the classroom; our Wildlife Ambassador program that travels to schools to showcase several of our live, non-releasable educational animals and teaches ways to protect wildlife in our shared environments; and finally, our Courtyard Tours, which provide the opportunity to observe natural behaviors and learn about the adaptations of our ambassador animals.

Partnerships for Enhanced Learning

In an effort to enhance our programs and expand our impact on Bay Area youth, we also partner with other local environmental and science education-based organizations, such as the Marin Environmental Literacy and Learning Collaborative. Their Science Pathway is a comprehensive set of environmental educational programs for third-grade students that builds a deeper understanding of environmental literacy, while supporting teachers in meeting California’s NGSS. WildCare also partners with the Marin County Office of Education as part of a grant to promote equitable and inclusionary practices in the arts and STEAM education across the North Bay. We continue to look for opportunities to collaborate with local organizations to define potential new areas of study.

Scholarships for Expanded Impact

WildCare’s Scholarship Fund helps students from underrepresented communities receive environmental education experiences that expand their worlds, promote academic achievement, and provide the foundation for environmental stewardship. Our scholarships are available to cover program fees and transportation costs; in many cases, it’s the only way that educators can afford these trips and presentations for their students.

As part of our comprehensive approach to wildlife medicine and care, WildCare also offers a free consultation line to our Bay Area community to provide information and guidance for wildlife inquiries. Our Living with Wildlife consultation phone line is available from 9 am to 10 pm, 356 days a year (emergency calls only after 5 pm).

Composed of staff and highly trained volunteers, our wildlife consultants answer animal-related general inquiries and provide advice and direction on how to help injured wildlife; navigate complicated wildlife interactions; and evaluate the opportunities to reunite fallen nesting babies with their parents. We also inform callers on effective and long-term solutions to resolving conflicts with wildlife, with solutions that may include, for example, removing attractants as a way to prevent animals from accessing a structure.

Our wildlife phone consultants can connect callers to local wildlife agencies such Marin Humane, a nonprofit that performs animal control duties for the County of Marin, to transport injured wildlife to WildCare for treatment. As we receive more than 10,000 calls on average in a single year—with 11,359 in 2019—our consultation line is clearly an important resource for our community and is a key component in our cycle of wildlife advocacy and care.

The Wildlife Solutions Service offer fee-based site assessments for property owners on how to humanely discourage wildlife populations from setting up long-term residence in yards and structures. The information provided serves as an alternative to trap and release methods proven to be inhumane and ineffective.

The mission of the Hungry Owl Project is to reduce the need for harmful pesticides and rodenticides by encouraging natural predators. At WildCare, we strive to help owls by providing and maintaining nesting boxes, and by conducting research and monitoring of local owl populations. We are committed to educating the public about these nontoxic and sustainable pest management practices.

WildCare continues to play a significant role in advocacy efforts throughout the Bay Area and beyond to influence legislation and actions that impact the environment we share with wildlife. By keeping close tabs on legislative policies and human behaviors that threaten the welfare or habitat of wild animals, our Advocacy Team determines when it’s imperative to speak out for positive change.

Over the years, our team has been instrumental in communicating action alerts to the public via our website, press releases, and social media so that community advocates can be informed of the issues—and be empowered to take action, whether through petitions, attendance at public meetings, or through direct actions or prevention plans in their own communities. In addition, our Advocacy Team meets with state and federal legislators, government organizations, regulatory agencies, and other advocacy groups, and serves as the industry expert in humane wildlife management techniques by leveraging up-to-date research gleaned from in-house data collection that supports our positions on specific initiatives.

WildCare is in the unique position to advise and inform on issues affecting wildlife. Our Wildlife Hospital treats more than 3,000 wild animals each year, and our staff sees first-hand the adverse effects of human activities on the patients we treat. From the hundreds of baby birds we receive each season due to habitat destruction; to the sea birds or other mammals caught in fishing lines and nets; to the predators and other animals who test positive for rat poison, or become ensnared in traps; our staff has an extensive database of research on these issues.

WildCare also shares data and findings with industry organizations, such as Marin Humane, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, California EPA’s Department of Pesticide Regulation, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and US Environmental Protection Agency.