Wildlife rehabilitation is the diagnosis, treatment and care of injured, sick and orphaned wildlife with the purpose of releasing the affected animals back into their natural habitats. The intention is not to simply keep animals alive, but to return them to a state whereby they are capable of surviving unassisted in the wild. If an animal’s condition will not allow it to survive for an extended period, rehabilitators will administer painless euthanasia techniques to prevent the animal from suffering further. However, on rare occasions, certain animals may be kept in captivity for the purposes of breeding or education. Un-releasable members of an endangered species are often kept for these reasons.

A common criticism of wildlife rehabilitation is that it interferes with natural selection. In other words, critics believe that rehabbers handicap natural populations by caring for weaker individuals that would normally be removed by predators, disease, starvation, etc. The truth is, however, that the vast majority of animals admitted to wildlife rehabilitation centres have suffered injury from a human related interaction. Windows, buildings, power lines, traps, firearms, poisons, urban sprawl, even harmless but curious children and pets pose threats to a variety of wildlife. On occasion, rehabbers must deal with something as unnatural and catastrophic as an oil spill. The good news, however, is that whether accidental or intentional, most injuries can be prevented by small and simple changes to our actions.
It is important to realize that animals have never encountered predators that can move as fast as an automobile, nor have they witnessed predators in numbers comparable to the volume of traffic seen on busy highways. Hawks and owls cannot possibly comprehend what the role of a power line/pole is, except that it offers an excellent perch above hunting grounds. The point is, humans have “progressed” to a level where our actions can no longer be considered natural. Most of what we do is out of balance with nature and consequently, the majority of the species on this planet (at times ourselves as well) cannot adapt fast enough to the changes we make to our environment. Wildlife rehabilitators have, therefore, chosen the role of caring for those animals that suffer unnaturally.

It is also the role of this society to educate people and help prevent accidents from occurring or re-occurring. The WRSOS’s aim is to inform the public so that we can limit the causes of injury and disease, or prevent well-intentioned but misinformed people from bringing animals into their homes unnecessarily. Care of sick and injured animals is a far less effective tool for promoting health when compared to preventing the problems in the first place.