MORE THAN 2,300 ANIMALS ADMITTED TO WILDLIFE CENTER OF VIRGINIA DURING 2006

The Wildlife Center of Virginia, an internationally acclaimed teaching and research hospital for wildlife and conservation medicine located in Waynesboro, admitted a total of 2,354 animals for treatment during 2006 - injured, ailing, and orphaned wildlife from all across Virginia.

As expected, the 2006 total included many common species - 392 Eastern Cottontail Rabbits; 203 Eastern Gray Squirrels; 170 Virginia Opossums; 103 American Robins; and 101 White-tailed Deer.

Also admitted for treatment were a number of threatened species, or species designated by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries as species of special concern, including 29 Bald Eagles - a single-year record for the Center; two Barn Owls; two Peregrine Falcons; a Northern Harrier; and a Golden-crowned Kinglet. [A complete list of 2006 patients by species is attached. 50KB PDF]

About two-thirds of the animals admitted to the Wildlife Center came from cities and counties near Waynesboro, including:

• Albemarle County 265
• Augusta County 457
• Charlottesville 176
• Harrisonburg 103
• Rockingham County 206
• Staunton 202
• Waynesboro 268

Patients were admitted from 85 counties and municipalities from all over the Commonwealth, including animals brought to the Wildlife Center from cities and counties at the corners of the state - Winchester, Lee County, Hampton, Accomack County, and Alexandria. [A complete list of 2006 patients by city/county is attached. PDF 45KB]

During 2006, Virginia largely escaped damage from tropical storms or hurricanes. Ed Clark, the Center's President and Co-Founder, noted that a single tropical storm can bring hundreds of patients to the Center.

The 2006 total also continued a trend that has seen the number of Center patients declining each year since 2001, when the Center admitted a record 3,315 patients. Clark attributes much of that decline to the Center's recent work to develop a network of about 200 wildlife rehabilitators across Virginia who are often "first responders" in cases of wildlife emergencies. In many cases, these individuals, often volunteers working under permits issued by the Commonwealth of Virginia, provide basic care for animals, while directing more difficult cases to the Wildlife Center.

The Center provides a series of orientation and training sessions for wildlife rehabilitators and hosts an annual conference which brings together more than 100 rehabilitators from across Virginia and neighboring states. The Center also has a full-time staff member charged with supporting community-based wildlife rehabilitators, maintains a current roster of rehabilitators, and refers many cases across the state to nearby permit-holders.

"Many young animals brought to the Wildlife Center each year don't need to come here," Clark noted. "They are still receiving care from their parents, or are young animals ready to live, and thrive, on their own." Center staff works with citizens who find young animals to assess whether these animals really do need human intervention. [The Center's website - www.wildlifecenter.org - includes a special "I need rescue advice" section to help citizens assess the health-care needs of animals.]

Some animals may need help, but not necessarily hospitalization. The Center works to place these animals with wildlife rehabilitators across Virginia.

Clark notes that the Center also has increased its telemedicine services - receiving and interpreting x-rays and images of blood and tissue samples via email, and then consulting by telephone or email with rehabilitators and other veterinarians across Virginia. "Through better use of technology," Clark said, "the number of animals brought to the Center may be reduced, but the number of animals helped through our work is increased."

The goal of the Center is to "treat to release" - to restore patients to health and return as many as possible to the wild. The Center provides state-of-the-art medical care for the sick and injured, and sustained, quality foster care so that animals may be returned to the wild with the ability to survive, and thrive, in their native habitats.

Since its founding in 1982, the nonprofit Wildlife Center has cared for more than 47,000 wild animals, representing 200 species of native birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. The Center trains veterinary and conservation professionals from all over the world, and wildlife rehabilitators across Virginia, and is actively involved in comprehensive wildlife health studies and the surveillance of emerging diseases. Additional information about the Wildlife Center is available at www.wildlifecenter.org.