Perspectives and Perceptions of New Rehabbers
by Elena Rizzo and Jamie Mazurek
Spring 2010
Juvenile Pigeon – Released January 2010
As newly licensed wildlife rehabilitators, we are fortunate to have the support and mentoring of the
seasoned rehabbers of North Country Wild Care. As our friends and family become aware of our new
endeavor, we have run across some interesting questions and perceptions of wildlife rehabilitation.
Our first three critters came to us from a seasoned rehabber who claims to have needed a little help,
though we suspect was just generously giving us some experience with “easier to care for” critters.
They were all pigeons; one was orphaned, one was found trapped in a gutter and one was brought to
North Country by a caring citizen who noticed that the bird could not fly. What do you think the
reaction of our friends and family was when we told them about the pigeons? Well, most said, “Why
pigeons, don’t we have enough of them around?” The usual myths about pigeons being disease carriers
also played a role in their reactions.
We’ve also been fortunate to assist another seasoned rehabber, once a week, with the care of a bald
eagle and a red-tailed hawk. The bald eagle damaged his foot after being caught in a small mammal trap
and the red-tail was shot in the wing. The reactions of our friends and family to our involvement with
the care of the birds of prey have been, as you might suspect, very different from that of the pigeons.
Reactions were as we expected. Birds of prey are “cool,” right? And the eagle, of course, is a powerful
symbol of American freedom.
During one discussion about the critters we have been taking care of, a friend asked, “Aren’t you just
standing in the way of nature’s survival of the fittest mechanism?” We replied that anecdotally, most of
the orphaned and injured wildlife that rehabbers care for are in the predicament that they are in
because of human influence, either direct or indirect. The North Country Wild Care Hotline receives
thousands of calls each year regarding animals that were injured by a car, a person, a domestic pet,
poisoning or simply through the curiosity and interference of humans. In 2009, 15 percent of the
animals taken in by North Country Wild Care were hit by a car and another 8 percent were orphaned
when their parent(s) were hit by a car. Another 10 percent were injured by a domestic cat. Unnecessary
human interference was documented in 5 percent of animals needing rehabilitation and a whopping 36
percent were brought in because the whereabouts of the parent(s) were unknown. Much of the
unknown parents’ whereabouts category can likely be re-categorized into what rehabbers like to call
“kidnapping.” This occurs when humans find baby animals unattended; when in reality the parent is just
off foraging for food or staying away from the nest so as not to attract predators. The animals we
successfully rehabilitate and release will still be subject to natural evolution and mortality. Some of the
“lesser” species we release will even become food sources for endangered and threatened species.
The question our friend posed sparked us to do some research into the effect of rehabilitation on
wildlife populations so that we could answer questions in the future with a more holistic and informed
answer about the effects of wildlife rehabilitation on wildlife populations. We found that most
conservationists, wildlife population managers and seasoned rehabilitators report that rehabilitation of
individual animals does not have an effect on the overall population of common species; however,
rehabilitators may have a positive impact on threatened and endangered species populations. The
successful release of a breeding adult of an endangered species may ultimately lead to successful
breeding in the wild. In addition, wildlife rehabilitators can serve as an important resource in identifying
the conservation needs of specific species. Wildlife Rescue, Inc. of New Mexico recently conducted a
major analysis of data collected by their wildlife rehabilitation members over a 19-year period. The
study was funded by the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish and focuses on threatened and
endangered species to identify conservation needs and natural versus human causes of mortality. The
results will be used to inform wildlife conservation and management decisions (RAVEN: Application of
WRI rehabilitation data – Russell and Harden, 2009).
Another important way in which rehabilitators may impact wildlife is through public education.
Rehabilitators serve as a resource for the public on topics such as wildlife biology, natural history and
disease. Knowledge about wildlife and our ecosystems helps to reduce human and wildlife conflict and
generally improves the lives of both people and animals. As human populations expand further into the
“wild,” the concept of peaceful co-existence becomes more important.
So why pigeons? For us, it’s because we feel that all wildlife species should be treated equally. They all
serve a niche in the environment and deserve a chance to recover and be released back into their
natural habitat, whether overpopulated or threatened, hit by car or injured by a domestic pet. We now
have a new respect for and understanding of pigeons and look forward to learning about many more
species and dispelling the culturally ingrained myths about such species that many of us were raised
with. Ethically, where would we draw the line on the type of critters we are willing to care for and those
we are not? We decided that as long as we have the knowledge, skills and resources to care for an
injured or orphaned critter, we will do our best to help it, regardless of species.
If you find injured or orphaned animals, regardless of the species, please do them a favor and call the
North Country Wildlife Hotline at 518-964-6740.