Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation

This time we want to tell you about new adventures, challenges and achievements. We have had the opportunity to rescue animals that are very rare to find and have peculiar, little studied needs. It has been wonderful to see how people care about them and bring them to our rescue center. For our team there have been many challenges and difficulties, as well as many learnings and satisfactions of having these animals under our care. Here is a brief history of each case:

LIANA: A juvenile female anteater (Tamandua mexicana) that arrived with severe injuries. It took 60 hours from the time she was reported to us until she arrived at our center. To get her there required an important network of support from institutions and citizens. After a journey of more than 5 hours of transportation, we received her in shock due to infection and malnutrition. We provided emergency care, managing to stabilize her. After a slow recovery process (months), she is finally ready to be released. We are currently coordinating pre-release studies. This specimen will be part of a research program on her species.

MURCY: A fruit bat (Pteronotus psilotis). It was brought by a biology student who is currently studying the populations of this bat species.  She found him lying there with a broken wing. Despite its small size, we were able to correct the fracture and with a lot of care we succeeded in feeding it.

NINE-BANDED ARMADILLO: This armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) was hit by a vehicle on the road. Another driver witnessed the accident and immediately rescued him and brought him to our center.  He presented contusions and inflammation, fortunately with no fractures. We recovered him and he was released after a week of recovery. 

PINCHITOS: A Tree Porcupine (Sphiggurus mexicanus). A baby that was rescued after its mother was attacked by a group of people. The mother escaped to save her baby. This baby when was left abandoned and exposed to dogs, was captured and transported for care and attention. Although slow, it has recovered favorably. We are currently searching for a suitable area to release him. Unfortunately there is very little information on its natural biology.

LESSER NIGHTJAR: A migratory bird (Chordeiles acutipennis) found in the suburbs of a city, with a fractured wing. We were able to perform surgery and correct the fracture. The biggest challenge has been feeding it, but with the help of scientists from Mexico and the United States, we have been able to find a formula to recover it. 

POTOO: A very rare resident bird (Nyctibius genus), nocturnal, rescued in the jungles of Chiapas. It was attacked by a group of children and suffered severe injuries. It had a badly injured eye. Coordinating his transfer and specialized attention (veterinary ophthalmologist) was not easy. Feeding him was not easy either. But with the help of a variety of people, from authorities, biologists, researchers, we learned about his habits and needs.

All these challenges make us grow but also make us realize that we need to reinforce our space, technologies, have more modern equipment and several other supplies that are not easy to acquire or maintain. That is why your donation IS VERY IMPORTANT, in this important endeavor to rescue the wildlife that brings so many benefits to our lives and to our Planet, THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROUS CONTRIBUTION!!!

Between 2021-2022 we have received approximately thirty birds of eight species of wild owls.

Unfortunately, most of them have arrived as nestlings, since people have taken down the trees where their nests were located, which tells us about the strong impact that humans are having on the habitat and populations of these mythical birds. Most of the birds were rescued in cities far from our rescue and veterinary care center Tivú, which implied a long trip and long hours or days of waiting, before arriving with us. Among the species rescued are: Barn Owl, Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, Pacific Screech-Owl, Vermiculated Screech-Owl, Bearded Screech-Owl, and Horned Owl.

Most of the birds arrived with malnutrition problems due to the wrong feeding provided by their rescuers. Several of them also arrived with injuries to their bodies. The owls are not easy to recover, but we continue to do our best to do so, and eventually reintegrate them into their natural habitat. Two are the biggest challenges we have with this group of birds: 1) their diet is very special because they are carnivores, and because they are young, they demand a large amount of food, which makes their maintenance and management very expensive. And 2) the rehabilitation process is slow, because they first need to grow, to have an adequate age and plumage to be able to fly. Additionally, they need a complex training process in the field, until the birds have strong flight muscles and have learned to hunt wild food (mice, small birds, insects and other invertebrates).

Although we have already released several owls, we are still in the process of rehabilitating half of them, waiting for favorable health and nutritional conditions, favorable weather conditions, and enough financial resources for relocation and training in the field, to finally let them fly. Thus, that they can continue to provide us with that important role of population control of small species that could become harmful pests without control.

THANK YOU for your support to return these mythical owls to the wild!