Awww, cute! – but saving wildlife is a serious business at national centre
Colin Seddon details the work of the Scottish SPCA in rescuing and rehabilitating injured and sick wild animals
Our National Wildlife Rescue Centre has become one of the largest and busiest centres in the UK with new rehabilitation techniques and diets being developed on site and adopted by other centres, and Wildlife Week is the perfect opportunity to share the amazing stories that happen there every single day.
Between the 2-8 July we are celebrating all things wildlife, highlighting the incredible work carried out by our dedicated animal care team. Over 9,600 wild animals were cared f or at our National Wildlife Rescue Centre in Fishcross during 2017 and this year is proving to be just as busy.
Caring for wildlife casualties from all over Scotland, from orphaned red squirrels, to injured harbour seals, tiny stoats to baby birds, our team are responsible for rehabilitating thousands of wild animals every year.
In 2012, our National Wildlife Rescue Centre was officially opened in Fish cross, Clackmannanshire. This new purpose- built site offered us the opportunity to care for even more animals in a new, more efficient way. With onsite veterinary facilities, seal, swan and otter pools, aviaries, wild mammal enclosures, paddocks and a stable block for deer, the centre was designed to provide for around 5,000 injured animals a year.
Now, six years later the centre has provided expert care for more than 45,000 wildlife patients in cluding Zeppelin the balloon syndrome hedgehog who needed deflated, or Billy, the baby red squirrel found in the nest of a felled tree.
There is never a quiet season at the rescue centre, with every month bringing new and different challenges. Wildlife Week falls in one of the busiest periods the centre experiences, with more than 1,000 baby birds needing hand fed around the clock.
Although the needs of the animals in our care can be demanding, the real payoff comes when it’s time for them to be released.
We have a number of release techniques, and each varies depending on species and geography. A hard release is where an animal, or in some cases, a group of animals are released at a suitable location with no follow up interference from our team.
A soft release is the opposite. Animals will be contained by an enclosure for awhile to get them used to the noises, sights and smells, for example, barn owls released in a barn area with meshing over the entrance. After they are released from the enclosure, food is left at the release site to support their reintroduction into the wild.
On occasion the two methods are blended and food is left at the site after the animals have been released ensuring there is an easy source for the first few weeks of their return.
All of these techniques have their merit sand are used for different reasons. All release sites are chosen with the animals’ best interests in mind such as food availability and shelter. However, other things need to be considered too, such as weather conditions, the impact on man, and post release monitoring opportunities.
We are fortunate that we have a highly dedicated team at our wildlife rescue centre and we enjoy high success rates. Last year we released 4,812 animals back into their natural habitats and ever y one of those had their own unique story.
Wildlife Week lets us shine a light on the amazing variety of wildlife we are lucky to have right on our doorstep. More than 650 hedgehogs, 100 seals, 30 foxes, 12 otters and five badgers came into our care last year before being successfully released. These animals came into our care from as far as Shetland and Inverness, to as close to our centre as Dunfermline and Rosyth.
This Wildlife Week you can find out more about the different animals we care for at our centre, see behind the scenes and find out what it’s like to rescue and rehabilitate wildlife by following # Wildlifeweek18 on social media.
Not only that, but for the first time we are auctioning off the opportunity
for one lucky animal lover to become a wildlife care assistant for the day! Find out more on our website, www.scottishspca.org.
It is thanks to the S cottish public that these animals were given the second chance they deserve. From calling our animal helpline on 03000 999 999 to report injured wildlife, to supporting the society by donating vital funds, to our wonderful network of volunteers who help out directly in our centre, we couldn’t do what we do without you. Colin Seddon, centre manager, Scottish SPCA.