A day in the life of a wildlife veterinarian - Part 1

Wildlife. We love catching a glimpse of them in the wild. Experiencing the thrill of seeing a rare species. So imagine the excitement of working or volunteering at a wildlife rescue or rehabilitation centre where thousands of wild animals are brought for treatment every year!

Working with wildlife as a veterinarian goes beyond specific medical knowledge. It requires an approach to medicine not taught to us at veterinary school.

For one, wild patients are terrified in the presence of humans. Petting, speaking softly - all the tricks we use with dogs, cats, horses - doesn't reassure them. It creates extreme stress. When we work with wildlife we try to be silent, efficient and to plan well so we can handle the animal as few times as possible.

Safety is paramount.Wild animals will defend themselves when threatened. We must understand their defences and make sure everyone on the team is knowledgeable and equipped to safely handle and restrain our wild patients.

We also must understand their normal behaviours so that we can observe and recognize when something is wrong. For example if a bird of prey is lying on its back with its feet pointed in the air, depending on the species, this could be a normal defensive posture - not an injury!

Getting in the minds of our wild patients helps us predict their responses, understand when something isn't right and minimize the fear and stress that any wild animal will experience during their treatment and rehabilitation. As a veterinarian this is the first set of skills we must master if we want to heal our patients and get them back into the wild where they belong.

Understanding these principles will help you too, when YOU are volunteering with wildlife!

Wildlife Veterinary Care

Wildlife rehabilitation offers sick, injured, orphaned and rescued wildlife a second chance. This work would not be possible without dedicated wildlife carers, biologists, park rangers, veterinary professionals and volunteers. Animal Experience International supports wildlife centres around the world, in Guatemala, Malawi, Thailand and Australia. I personally have had the honour to work as a wildlife veterinarian for more than 20 years. Not a day goes by that I'm not surprised or amazed by my wild patients. Working with wildlife presents many challenges that are not faced by vets treating domestic animals like dogs, cats and horses.

We don’t know their history.

Our wild patients often come to us with no background information. The animal may have been found lying on a road, been confiscated from a smuggler, or seen not using a leg. But unlike domestic animals, there is no person to share the animal’s history, a tool vets rely on to deduce what is wrong. Wildlife vets must be detectives, a task made even more difficult by the stoic nature of wildlife. In the wild a weak animal is more likely to become another animal’s dinner – wildlife has an amazing ability to hide their illness or injuries, even from veterinarians.

Survival is essential.

Add to that, our wild patients have to be well enough to survive in the wild once released. We cannot ask a patient to return for regular follow-up exams, or to leave with pain medication that they can take indefinitely. The goal of wildlife rehabilitation is to return healthy animals back to the wild. Wild animals must be able to swim, climb, fly, hunt, evade prey, reproduce, interact appropriately, and flourish in the wild. This holds us vets to an exceedingly high standard!

Our care is very stressful.

Wildlife find captivity to be extremely stressful – to a wild animal, humans are seen as predators. This means we must work very hard to keep our patients as comfortable as possible and to minimize stress. Unlike with domestic animals, wildlife is not soothed by touch or reassuring talk. Quite the opposite! Minimizing stress means being quiet around wildlife, staying away from enclosures, and keeping the number of times we examine, treat, weigh, or otherwise disturb our patients to a minimum. Wildlife centres work hard to design enclosures that keep animals safe and comfortable, and to provide enrichment to keep animals occupied while in care. Animals that are less stressed heal and recover more quickly, tend not to further injury themselves and can be released back to the wild sooner.

I love the challenges that come with working with wildlife – the constant problem solving, and creativity required to treat my patients successfully. But for all of us involved in wildlife rehabilitation and rescue, the most satisfying part is when our work in done, and the animal is given a second chance to live its life, free in the wild.
 

~ Dr. Heather Reid is a Wildlife Veterinarian and the Co-founder of AEI ~