| Introduction
Remember that the welfare
of the animal is of the upmost priority.
The aim of the wildlife
rehabilitator should be to rehabilitate the animal or raise it
to a state of maturity such that it can be safely and successfully
released into its natural environment.
To provide for the animal’s
physical and psychological needs the rehabilitator must have appropriate
training, adequate time, suitable facilities and be prepared to
meet all the costs incurred, such as for food, housing and veterinary
expenses. Preference will be given to the rehabilitator who can
best meet the above criteria.
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Responsibilities
- Carers must agree
to abide by the guidelines and decisions made by Wildcare Australia.
- All animals must be
registered with the relevant Species Coordinator.
- Accurate records must
be kept. The animals progress records should record information
covering growth and development, food and medication. The animals
records should stay with the animal until the final outcome.
A monthly Carers Return, indicating what animals came into care,
were released or died, must be sent to the record keeper by
the 14th day of the following month.
- Rehabilitators must
notify the appropriate Species Coordinator of any changes to
the status of the animal, such as death, release, escape or
unusual or chronic illness.
- Rehabilitators must
be prepared to have their facilities and management techniques
monitored by a more experienced wildlife carer within Wildcare
Australia.
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Training
- New rehabilitators
shall complete the Wildcare Australia Orientation Program before
commencing volunteer work as a wildlife rehabilitator
- All Wildlife Rehabilitators
need to complete a basic training workshop on the species that
they wish to care for before caring for that species
- All wildlife rehabilitators
need to complete at least one training workshop each year for
all of the species that they wish to care for.
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Equipment
- Rehabilitators must
have the appropriate equipment required for the specific type
of animal that they wish to care for.
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Facilities
- Rehabilitators must
have suitable facilities such as cages, aviaries or yards for
the specific type of animal that they wish to care for.
- Aviaries and large
cages should be set up with branches, both fixed and movable,
for climbing and should be snake and rat proof.
- For all species, access
to a natural food source, native trees and shrubs, is essential.
Vegetation should be collected daily.
- Clean fresh water
should be available at all times.
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Stress
The first 24 hours will
be a very stressful period for any native animal coming into care.
Firstly we must realise that all the native animals that come
into care are wild animals. Most have been traumatized in some
way, been injured by a car, dog, cat or in a fight, been electrocuted,
have lost a mother or have been abandoned.
Some will be in a state
of shock, all will be terrified and therefore extremely stressed.
It is said that more native animals die in care from stress than
from any other single cause. Bearing this in mind we must try
to alleviate the stresses as best we can.
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How
stress manifests itself
Some animals when stressed,
die very quickly. Other animals that are subjected to stress,
often will not thrive, may be a poor eater, may not make regular
and appropriate weight gains, may develop diarrohea, may be lethargic,
grind its teeth, vocalize, may succumb to disease and may eventually
die.
Obviously prevention
is better than cure, be aware of the causes of stress and minimize
them.
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Identifying
sources of stress
To alleviate stress you
must firstly identify the sources of stress for the animal. Apart
from the initial stress, ie the accident, injury or illness that
caused the animal to be in care, or the loss of its mother, food,
warmth, security, there are many other stresses that the animal
is subjected to.
Some causes of stress...
- Being handled by a
predator - HUMANS!
- Foreign smells
- Foreign sounds
- Being fed inappropriate
food or inadequate quantities
- Being left at a veterinary
surgery
- Being managed inappropriately
for its age, such as being kept in a pouch in a small box when
it should be in a large cage with suitable vegetation and branches
to explore.
- Having a teat or
syringe put in the mouth
- The taste of Lectade,
glucodine or milk formula
- An erratic feeding
regime
- The dryness of an
artificial pouch
- The change in temperature
or fluctuating temperature
- Being raised alone
especially for social species like ringtail possums and sugar
gliders
- Being housed in an
area with reptiles or the family pets
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Minimizing
stress
Some of these stresses
we cannot alleviate, for example, the food, the handling, though
we can keep it to a minimum, however others we can control.
With controlled constant
heat from specialised equipment such as an electric heat pad connected
to a thermostat unit, we can maintain a constant temperature.
This is very crucial for young joeys. Often joeys cared for by
inexperienced people can be easily killed by not maintaining the
animal at the correct temperature.
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Other
causes of stress that can be controlled
- Noise
- keep the animal in a quiet secure area away from small children
and excessive noise (eg vacumn cleaner, lawn mower, power tools
etc).
- Erratic feeding
regime - feed the animal at regular intervals according
to its needs - three hourly, four hourly.
- Different
handlers - make sure that one person only handles the
animal. This is of the utmost importance. Allowing different
members of the family to feed and toilet an orphaned joey is
very stressful for it. Remember our aim is to try to mirror
as closely as possible how the joey would live in the wild.
It is extremely important for the joey to bond to one person
only so that it does not become imprinted on humans and has
the best possible chance of survival in the wild.
- Association
with family pets - apart from being stressful for the
animal, it will leave it vulnerable to attack by the first dog
or cat that it meets on release. Native animals may not develop
their natural fear of domestic and feral dogs and cats if they
are allowed to mix with your family pets.
- Housing
- do not house in the same area as their natural predators (eg
don’t house mammals with snakes, birds with domestic cats)
When an animal comes
into your care it considers you to be its predator. Bear this
in mind until the animal recognises you as its food provider and
has accepted you as its foster mother.
Stress depresses the
imune system leaving the animal vulnerable to disease.
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Preparation
for release
Preparation for release
should begin on the day that the animal comes into your care.
It is YOUR responsibility
to provide the animal with all that it needs, physically and emotionally,
to be successfully integrated into its natural environment.
Can you fulfil these
requirements?
- Firstly you must identity
the animal correctly
- Secondly you must
make yourself familiar with the species and its lifestyle
- Thirdly you must
mirror the way the natural mother would rear it
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Points
to consider for release
- • look at how
the particular species lives - alone, in pairs or in groups
- • where it
lives - rainforests, wet or dry sclerophyl forests, heaths,
grasslands, swamps
- • when it eats
- day, night, dusk, dawn
- • what it eats
- foliage, flowers, buds, fruit, bark, fungi, lichen, sap, invertebrates
- • where it
eats - on the ground, in the open, hiding under vegetation,
in low shrubs, high in the trees, in the air, in water
- • what the
mother provides for her young - what stage the young emerges
from the nest or pouch, at what stage it becomes independent
After familiarising yourself
with the species and its requirements, consider how you can provide
the animal with the skills it needs to survive in the wild.
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Certain
criteria must be met before an animal is ready for release
The animal must be...
- Healthy
- Mentally mature
- Physically fit (Kangaroos
and wallabies must be able to negotiate trees, fallen logs,
stumps, rocks, uneven and rough ground. Possums must be able
to cope with moving branches as well as fixed objects. Birds
must be able to fly strongly, run, climb or swim).
- Familiar with its
natural food ( in the release area) and how to find it
- Familiar with its
own kind and socialized in a group where necessary
- Acclimatized to the
weather and conditioned to the sounds and smells of the release
area
- De-humanized
- Alert to danger including
predators such as dogs and cats
Other considerations
are the timing, the suitability of the site, the presence of others
of the same species.
It is preferable for
one person to take the animal right through to release, however
many people are not able to fulfill all the pre-release requirements
for certain animals. If you are in this position you may be able
to raise the animal to the point where it needs to be out and
about and then pass it on to another carer, who has the facilities
to take it through to release.
Do not take it for granted
that your animal will be able to find a home in a wildlife park.
They usually have more than enough.
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