The Wildlife Center of Virginia, an internationally acclaimed teaching and research hospital for wildlife and conservation medicine located in Waynesboro, has admitted the 55,000th patient of its history – a Virginia Opossum that was orphaned when its mother was struck and killed by a car near Keezletown in Rockingham County.
News
As one of the world’s leading teaching hospitals for wildlife medicine, the Wildlife Center of Virginia has a core mission to teach the world to care about and care for wildlife and the environment. This news page collects stories of the Center’s expertise in action.
May 4, 2010
Statement of Ed Clark, President and Co-Founder, Wildlife Center of Virginia
Like wildlife lovers around the world, the Wildlife Center of Virginia has been monitoring the situation in the Gulf of Mexico, as oil from the massive blowout of the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform steadily advances on the fragile coastline of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. The potential impact on wildlife defies the imagination.
April 27, 2010
The Wildlife Center of Virginia, the nation’s leading teaching and research hospital for wild animals, today announced that the Norfolk Botanical Garden Bald Eagle – admitted to the Center as a patient in May 2008 and an international “celebrity” – will become a permanent resident at the Center.
April 23, 2010
On April 23, Dr. Ariane Santamaria-Bouvier, with the assistance of Madis Leivits, "jessed up" Bald Eagle #08-0887. Jesses are strong but soft leather straps that serve as a leash for a bird's handler. They provide a "handle" to help secure and steady an eagle. These jesses were custom-designed and crafted by Center Education Coordinator Kelly Rourke. The jesses are designed to provide a minimum risk of entanglement or other injury to the bird.
April 1, 2010
The Wildlife Center of Virginia, the nation’s leading teaching and research hospital for native wildlife, released a Bald Eagle on Saturday, April 3 at 11:30 a.m. at the Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge [RRVNWR] near Warsaw, Virginia.
The eagle was released by Ed Clark, President and Co-Founder of the Wildlife Center.
March 19, 2010
On March 17, Wildlife Center Education Coordinator Kelly Rourke hand-crafted the anklets that will be placed on #08-887's legs later this week. Using a scapel, Kelly cut two anklets from soft, thick dark-brown leather. [The white pieces in the photos are stiff cardboard that was used to protect the tabletop.] Kelly also created holes in the anklets which will be reinfored with metal grommets.
The final alterations to the the anklets will be made when they are fitted onto #08-887's legs.
March 17, 2010