Impact of Wildlife Rehabilitation as a Wildlife Conservation Tool to Increase Threatened Wildlife Populations

    Are you an animal lover and want to help those that are becoming threatened to the verge of extinction? Then this blog about wildlife rehabilitation is for you! Wildlife rehabilitation is an important concept for people to be educated about because we as humans are the number cause as to why animals are admitted to wildlife rehabilitation facilities. Contact between humans and wildlife grows daily as humans expand into or destroy wildlife habitat. In most cases, when humans and wildlife collide, wildlife suffers. Wildlife rehabilitation gives these wild animals a second chance to live free in their natural habitat.

Introduction: 
       Wildlife rehabilitation is the care of orphaned or injured animals until they can be released back into their natural habitat in good health for a good survival outlook. The effectiveness of wildlife rehabilitation has not been fully explored, but it has been practiced as a wildlife conservation method to help reestablish declining wildlife populations, especially endangered species. The peer review articles used for this research project mainly focused on the causes of wildlife being admitted to rehabilitation, the post-release survival rates of different species, and the factors that affect post-release survival rates. A few of the research studies observed trends in previous years of practicing wildlife rehabilitation, and compared them to more recent data collected about post-release survival rates of different wildlife species. The research conducted for this research project was done to determine the effectiveness of wildlife rehabilitation as a conservation tool, and how they increase the populations of threatened wildlife populations.

Evidence from the research:
    The research article, Treatment of two Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus) with severe injuries and their subsequent release into the wild: a case report, written by Jang Dong-Hyuk Jeong, found that wildlife rehabilitation is effective in treating severely injured animals. Asiatic black bears are highly endangered in South Korea, and in 2018 two bears were found with severe injuries. The female bear found was caught in an illegal bear trap, and the rehabilitators had to perform a total amputation of the mangled limb. The image below shows (a) the limb before surgery, (b) the exposed trochlea and capitulum of right humerus, (c) the amputated right thoracic limb, (d) immediately after surgery, (e) 5 days after surgery, and (f) 37 days after surgery. She was released 45 days after surgery, tracked for two years, traveled to 435 different locations of varying distances after amputation, and was confirmed to have four cubs between the years of 2018 and 2020. The male bear found was hit by a bus when trying to cross a highway and experienced severe internal injuries that needed extensive surgery, treatment, and rehabilitation. He was released 99 days after surgery, tracked for two years, and traveled to 465 different locations of varying distances. If neither of these Asiatic black bears were found, they would have died and never would have gotten another chance at life in the wild.

Practical Implications:
    Environmental enrichment has been found to increase animal welfare and readiness for release; therefore, implementing more environmental enrichment activities during the rehabilitation process can be done. This could include:
  • Exposing animals to new objects
  • Increasing social interaction between the same species within the facility
  • Providing natural behaviors and activities that would normally be done in the wild
Additional Resources:
    Here are links to two additional resources including the actual research poster itself that was presented at the Center for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (CURCA), and a short Tedx Talk that summarizes the poster. Both of these links are for two assignments that were completed for the Senior Seminar research class for Sports Medicine available at Westfield State University. A link to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection website is also provided below with several wildlife rehabilitation resources and locations.
About the author:


    Jenna Higley is a senior at Westfield State University, majoring in Movement Science with a concentration in Sports Medicine
and a minor in Biology. Jenna is an animal lover and one day hopes to pursue a career in animal sciences as a zoologist and
wildlife rehabilitator. She has always been surrounded by animals, whether they were family pets or an injured animals taken
in and cared for. Jenna has a passion for animals like no other, and will strive to give them the help they need to survive in
the wild. Her personal email is jennahigley21@gmail.com and her linked-in can be found at this link:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenna-higley-183b93258/

References:
1. Alden, B., Yolanda, v. H., Seddon, P. J., Reid, J., & Young, M. J. (2021). Fat chance?Endangered penguin rehabilitation has mixed conservation outcomes. Conservation Science and Practice, 3(8)https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.452

2. Cope, H. R., McArthur, C., Dickman, C. R., Newsome, T. M., Gray, R., & Herbert, C. A.(2022). A systematic review of factors affecting wildlife survival during rehabilitation and release. PLoS One, 17(3) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0265514

3. Dong-Hyuk Jeong, Jang, K., Jeong-Jin, Y., Choi, J., Lim, S., Seong-Chan, Y., Shim, K.M., Kim, S. E., & Kang, S. S. (2021). Treatment of two Asiatic black bears(Ursus thibetanus)with severe injuries and their subsequent release into the wild: a case report.BMC Veterinary Research, 17, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-021-02834-9

4. Guy, A. J., Curnoe, D., & Banks, P. B. (2013). A survey of current mammal rehabilitation and release practices. Biodiversity & Conservation, 22(4), 825- 837. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-013-0452-1

5. Hanson, M., Hollingshead, N., Schuler, K., Siemer, W. F., Martin, P., & Bunting, E. M. (2021). Species, causes, and outcomes of wildlife rehabilitation in New York State. PLoS One, 16(9)https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0257675

6. Kwok, A. B. C., Haering, R., Travers, S. K., & Stathis, P. (2021). Trends in wildlife rehabilitation rescues and animal fate across a six-year period in New South Wales, Australia. PLoS One, 16(9)https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0257209

7. Long, R. B., Krumlauf, K., & Young, A. M. (2020). Characterizing trends in human-wildlife conflicts in the American Midwest using wildlife rehabilitation records. PLoS One, 15(9)https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0238805

8. Robinson, D. P., Hyland, K., Gerhard Beukes †, Vettan, A., Mabadikate, A., Jabado, R.W., Rohner, C. A., Pierce, S. J., & Baverstock, W. (2021). Satellite tracking of rehabilitated sea turtles suggests a high rate of short-term survival following release. PLoS One, 16(2) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246241

9. Saran, K. A., Parker, G., Parker, R., & Dickman, C. R. (2011). Rehabilitation as a conservation tool: a case study using the common wombat. Pacific Conservation Biology, 17(4), 310-319.https://doi.org/10.1071/PC110310

10. Walker, E. H., Verschueren, S., Schmidt-Küntzel, A., & Marker, L. (2022). Recommendations for the rehabilitation and release of wild-born, captive-raised cheetahs: the importance of pre- and post-release management for optimizing survival. Oryx, 56(4), 495-504. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605321000235



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