Wildlife Rehabilitation Facilities

March 21, 2024

Question: What role do wildlife rehabilitation facilities play in bringing care to injured animals?

Answer: Wildlife rehabilitation facilities serve an incredibly valuable role in the care of wildlife that are sick, injured or orphaned. Between 100 and 125 thousand animals are treated annually at facilities that are licensed by CDFW. There are more than 80 permitted facilities, and roughly 500 satellite facilities that are permitted under the primary permittee. Satellite facilities assist with neonate (less than four weeks of age) care for round the clock feeding or preparing an animal for release.

Birds are the most common form of wildlife to be seen by rehabbers in California, followed by mammals, and then reptiles and amphibians.

Rehabilitation facilities are a great help to CDFW when it comes to learning about disease outbreaks. They might see a large number of sick animals from a particular area, which can alert CDFW to a possible disease outbreak.

The CDFW website contains a county-by-county list of these wildlife rehabilitation facilities ( https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Laboratories/Wildlife-Health/Rehab/Facilities ) that includes information on which species they’re able to accept. If you come across a sick or injured animal do not drop it off at one of the locations, without notifying an employee and given directions on what to do.

It can be costly operating a wildlife rehabilitation facility. For a single large bear, food alone can reach costs of over $1,000 a month.

Information on how to make tax deductible donations is available at https://wildlife.ca.gov/Tax-Donation.