Gibsons Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre
is a non-profit, registered society, that admits into care wild
birds and small mammals which are in distress. Each year we receive
hundreds of calls on behalf of injured and orphaned wildlife.
We provide for the animal's every need including feeding, watering,
daily cleaning and medicating (if necessary).
Treatment may be as simple as providing proper
food, water and warmth to an orphaned fledgling until it is old
enough to be released to the wild, or as complex as an operation
by a veterinarian to implant a pin in a broken bone.
Some species of birds will not eat on their own
in captivity and must be hand-fed. Others may be too sick to eat
and are tube-fed.
Fledglings and nestlings require feeding every
20 minutes to every hour, depending on the species and age of
the bird (or animal). It may take several weeks or even months
of care to prepare an animal or bird for a second chance in its
natural habitat. All this must be done without destroying the
animal's basic fear of humans, for, once on its own again, its
life may depend on that natural fear.
Gibsons Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre
has permits from the Canadian Wildlife Service and the
Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection to care for sick, orphaned,
injured, oiled or stressed migratory and resident birds or small
mammals, but we receive no Government funding.
Along with birds of prey and other uncommon birds,
Gibsons Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre takes
into care song birds and species such as crows and pigeons, as
we believe all wildlife is worthy of the best care we can give
it. The rehabilitation of wild creatures from hummingbirds to
Great Blue Herons, or bats to raccoons means special housing,
diets and care. This is very costly and time-consuming work.
Today, more than ever, wildlife has to endure
loss of habitat (not just clear-cutting forests, but clearing
of bush, shrubs and trees in backyards), pollution and human encroachment
(including pet cats), all of which is having a negative effect
on wildlife populations.
Each day humans are taking more and more from
wildlife. We, at Gibsons Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre,
are trying to do our part in giving something back. Please help
us with this task.
