Frequently Asked Questions About High Demand for Rehab Services
Why is the demand for wildlife rehabilitation so high?
Nearly all of the animals that come though the doors of wildlife rehabilitation centres have become sick, injured, or orphaned as a result of living in close proximity to people. Continuing development of natural spaces forces more animals into urban areas. As they adapt to these spaces, wild animals frequently encounter the dangers of our built environment, and come into conflict with people.
Toronto Wildlife Centre is constantly growing; we are now admitting up to 6000 animals a year and struggling to find sick, injured, or orphaned for many reasons—they are hit by cars, collide with reflective windows, are poisoned by pesticides, become entangled in fishing line, and get their heads or paws stuck in empty food containers, to name a few—but by far the most common reasons baby wildlife are brought to us is because of cat attacks and live trapping. Let’s look more closely at these two factors and possible solutions.
CAT ATTACKS
Free-roaming outdoor cats are a significant problem for wild birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. Scientists estimate that hundreds of millions of birds and over a billion small mammals are killed by cats in the U.S. every year, and the situation in Canada is no less serious. Baby animals are particularly vulnerable, since many of them are slow-moving or unable to fly when they first leave their nest/den, making them easy prey for outdoor cats. Additionally, untold numbers of babies are orphaned when their parents are injured or killed by cats. Our staff and volunteers at Toronto Wildlife Centre are overwhelmed each year by all the animals we admit or talk to people about that are attacked by cats, and this is, of course, only the tip of the iceberg; many affected animals are never found, countless others are not reported to anyone and/or re-released and die out of sight (all animals that have been bitten or pawed by a cat require medical attention, even if no injuries the resources to handle our patient load. The demand spikes dramatically in the spring and summer, when thousands of baby animals are admitted at our centre or directed to other facilities via our Wildlife Hotline.
Wild animals become are visible—even animals that appear “fine” almost never escape truly unscathed, and the bacteria in cats mouths is enough to kill a small animal within a few days even if the wounds are minor).
Sadly, these attacks are preventable and unnecessary—most cats are not killing for food and our native wildlife have not evolved with defenses against these domestic predators. For more information on cats outdoors, including downloadable materials on possible alternatives for your cat (e.g. building an outdoor cat run, converting outdoor cats to indoor cats), see the American Bird Conservancy site.
LIVE TRAPPING
Contrary to popular belief, trapping and relocating is not a humane way to solve problems with wildlife. Wild animals are territorial creatures, many of whom spend their adult lives defending their territory—which may be less than a square kilometre—from others. It is extremely difficult for a wild animal to compete when removed from its familiar territory (and thereby into another animals territory) where it has established food, water, and shelter sources. Studies using radio-collar tracking have found that relocated wildlife usually do not survive. And, because wildlife tend to come into conflict with humans most often during the nesting/denning season, trapping nearly always ends up orphaning babies (a problem typically discovered too late, after the mother is removed). Even when mothers and babies are relocated together, the adult will not usually continue to care for her young in an unfamiliar location. It is also illegal to relocate wildlife.
There are many alternative solutions to human-wildlife conflicts that are effective and do not harm animals. See our Frequently Asked Questions (scroll down to the “By Species” section) for information on some common conflict situations, or call our Wildlife Hotline for free advice on what to do at (416) 631-0662.
Here at Toronto Wildlife Centre, we are doing everything we can to continue to grow to meet the high demand for our services, but we need help. In addition to not using live traps and ensuring your pets do not harm wildlife, you can also help support us in other ways. Click here for more information on our current situation.
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