Injured Animals
The Wildlife Rehabilitation Center at Salmonier Nature Park receives a variety of provincial wildlife species requiring assistance each year, the majority of these are injured wild birds.
requiring assistance each year. Of this number, a high percentage are injured, and of these injured animals, greater than ninety percent are birds.
There are usually two categories of injuries to wildlife:
- those caused by nature
- those caused by people
The natural injuries most frequently involve such occurrences as starvation and injury from other animals, while human-induced injuries most frequently result from collisions, whether these be of birds with man-made objects, or automobile collisions with both birds and mammals. There is usually a significant number of injured wildlife each year that have been the victims of attack by free-roaming pet cats.
Should you encounter injured or orphaned wildlife, it is recommended that you immediately report the incident to your local Conservation Officer. These individuals will arrange to have the animal collected and transported to Salmonier Nature Park or if it is appropriate.
Orphaned Animals
Abandoned Wildlife: If You Care – Leave Them There
In late spring and early summer, many residents of the province will be heading afield to kick-off another season of camping, fishing and getting back to nature in the great outdoors. Please remember this season coincides with the peak birth season of many of the province’s wild creatures.
Each year around this time, Salmonier Nature Park receives a number of calls reporting lost or abandoned young wild animals. In many cases, it is a normal occurrence for the parent animals to leave their young unattended for extended time periods. Often the adult animal will be hiding somewhere nearby and may be reluctant to return while people are present. It is recommended that if you encounter what you perceive to be an orphaned or abandoned animal, to immediately leave the area, and report the incident to your nearest Forestry/Wildlife office or police detachment.
Another major concern at this time of the year is that very newborn young, particularly moose and caribou, will “adopt” any human they encounter and on many occasions have willingly followed people home. It is recommended people avoid direct contact and immediately leave the area should they encounter an unattended young animal.
Although people feel some obligation to intervene and help a lost animal, in actual fact this human contact may be doing more harm than good. An animal that is raised in captivity in most cases is unable to return to a wild existence.
Attempts to rehabilitate and re-introduce animals back to the wild is often times very challenging and requires extensive knowledge and time in the proper handling and caring for wildlife. Unfortunately, most wild animals raised in captivity cannot survive on their own. In some cases, Park staff will also attempt to identify other accredited zoological parks willing to accept wildlife for educational display. Often with common species, it is difficult to find such a suitable home and occasionally the animal must be euthanized.
Wildlife Rehabilitation
Background
Salmonier Nature Park was established as a high quality environmental education centre to promote an understanding and appreciation for this Province’s wildlife and its habitat.
The Park also serves as the only provincially managed wildlife rehabilitation center. Wildlife rehabilitation has both direct and indirect benefits. Direct conservation benefits to wildlife occur when species, especially those that have conservation concerns, can be rehabilitated and released back into the wild. Indirect benefits to wildlife arise in the form of public support for conservation. Other benefits occur from increasing our understanding of wildlife behavior, detecting diseases, and knowing how best to avoid or reduce human caused conflicts near or in our communities.
Due to public safety risks associated with handling wildlife in general, the Park will only accept and rehabilitate wildlife that are brought to its wildlife care center by a Conservation Officer. The Department’s policy guidance on receiving wildlife at Salmonier Nature Park is as follows:
Policy
Candidate animals for rehabilitation will be screened on the following basis:
- Preference will be given in the following order:
- Endangered species
- Rare, threatened or uncommon species
- Species with a high public profile (such as most raptors and carnivores)
- Other species.
- Animals will be rehabilitated:
- They can be safely managed within the Park’s normal operations and adequate captive holding facilities are available
- if they can be released back to the wild,
- if they can be placed on educational display at Salmonier Nature Park or other reputable zoological park in Canada or used in reputable captive breeding or research programs.
- Generally, species which are abundant or “over abundant” in the wild, will not be given a high priority for rehabilitation.
- If facilities or expertise at Salmonier Nature Park are inappropriate to handle certain species, Park staff endeavour to place these animals in those facilities that are best equipped and staffed to handle them.
- Attempts to raise moose calves will be made a) if they are needed for display at Salmonier Nature Park or b) if there is evidence in advance that another reputable zoological park is interested in taking a specimen(s) for their immediate display need.
- The Wildlife Division does not permit individual citizens to house or keep live provincial wildlife species in captivity for any purpose. Wildlife should be left in their natural surroundings and will only be handled by Department staff if there is a cause for concern for public safety or if circumstances warrant the animal’s removal. For inquiries related to problem wildlife or injured or orphaned wildlife, please contact a local Regional Services office near you, Contact Information – Forestry – Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture (gov.nl.ca) For inquiries related to wildlife rehabilitation permits, please email wildlifepermits@gov.nl.ca
Moose Calves – A Special Case
One of the most significant problems associated with animal rehabilitation is evident every spring when the park is asked to accept “orphaned” moose calves. Three serious problems associated with accepting moose calves arise:
- In almost every case it is not in the best interest of moose to remove calves from their natural setting. It is important to understand talking calves from the wild is an unnecessary human disturbance. In many situations when the Park accepts a calf, it is fostering the perception that removing animals from the wild in this way is an acceptable practice.
- Hand raising moose calves is an expensive and time consuming activity which strain the Park’s resources.If a calf is successfully reared, a major problem still exists. The park rarely needs more moose. Other zoological parks in Canada, which are suitably equipped and staffed to handle moose usually have them already.Release back to the wild is usually inappropriate because the animal’s ability to survive is questionable and hand-rearing makes the animal quite tame. It is quite likely that it would end up as a public nuisance or even cause a highway accident.