World Wildlife Day

Ontario’s African Lion Safari was just named the worst Zoo in North America. And we are furious. Not because they don’t deserve honour- they truly are the scourge of Cambridge Ontario. We are furious because this exploitative and oppressive ‘zoo’ still exists.

In Defense of Animals put out this media release: 10 Worse Zoos for Elephants and at the very top is a person standing on the neck of an elephant who is being forced to perform at African Wild Safari. We encourage everyone to read their media release because it’s really important to understand how disgusting and terrible these places are for animals. In Defense of Animals is an international animal protection organization with a 30-year history of fighting for animals, people and the environment through education, campaigns and hands-on rescue facilities in India, Africa, and rural Mississippi. There is nothing that we can add to this conversation that they have not said in the media release, so please do read it and send a donation for their hard work.

But since you are already here… In the meantime let us address just the picture we see.

This animal is a WILD animal. It's not a domestic animal that is happy and gets joy or enrichment from doing tricks and bonding with it's human friend.

It's a WILD animal who's brain, from the moment they are born, sees humans as predators, threats that cause them stress.

Domesticating an animal takes many many many generational changes in the genetics of that animal. See: dogs from wild dogs.

When we rip WILD animals from their homes. When we force them 'behave' and perform for us through violence. When we breed them for even more exploitation. When we support the people who do all of this, or some of this, we support oppression. *We are oppressors.*

What does this animal teach us about biology, about conservation, about empathy, about elephants? How can anyone say this is an educational show, an educational park? It's oppression, it's exploitation, it's violence and it does not serve anyone to have it still open.

It's World Wildlife Day and we are embarrassed that this is happening in Ontario.

#wildlifenotentertainers #worldwildlifeday

Wildlife Veterinary Care

Wildlife rehabilitation offers sick, injured, orphaned and rescued wildlife a second chance. This work would not be possible without dedicated wildlife carers, biologists, park rangers, veterinary professionals and volunteers. Animal Experience International supports wildlife centres around the world, in Guatemala, Malawi, Thailand and Australia. I personally have had the honour to work as a wildlife veterinarian for more than 20 years. Not a day goes by that I'm not surprised or amazed by my wild patients. Working with wildlife presents many challenges that are not faced by vets treating domestic animals like dogs, cats and horses.

We don’t know their history.

Our wild patients often come to us with no background information. The animal may have been found lying on a road, been confiscated from a smuggler, or seen not using a leg. But unlike domestic animals, there is no person to share the animal’s history, a tool vets rely on to deduce what is wrong. Wildlife vets must be detectives, a task made even more difficult by the stoic nature of wildlife. In the wild a weak animal is more likely to become another animal’s dinner – wildlife has an amazing ability to hide their illness or injuries, even from veterinarians.

Survival is essential.

Add to that, our wild patients have to be well enough to survive in the wild once released. We cannot ask a patient to return for regular follow-up exams, or to leave with pain medication that they can take indefinitely. The goal of wildlife rehabilitation is to return healthy animals back to the wild. Wild animals must be able to swim, climb, fly, hunt, evade prey, reproduce, interact appropriately, and flourish in the wild. This holds us vets to an exceedingly high standard!

Our care is very stressful.

Wildlife find captivity to be extremely stressful – to a wild animal, humans are seen as predators. This means we must work very hard to keep our patients as comfortable as possible and to minimize stress. Unlike with domestic animals, wildlife is not soothed by touch or reassuring talk. Quite the opposite! Minimizing stress means being quiet around wildlife, staying away from enclosures, and keeping the number of times we examine, treat, weigh, or otherwise disturb our patients to a minimum. Wildlife centres work hard to design enclosures that keep animals safe and comfortable, and to provide enrichment to keep animals occupied while in care. Animals that are less stressed heal and recover more quickly, tend not to further injury themselves and can be released back to the wild sooner.

I love the challenges that come with working with wildlife – the constant problem solving, and creativity required to treat my patients successfully. But for all of us involved in wildlife rehabilitation and rescue, the most satisfying part is when our work in done, and the animal is given a second chance to live its life, free in the wild.
 

~ Dr. Heather Reid is a Wildlife Veterinarian and the Co-founder of AEI ~

We are Elephant Friends, and friendly!

We are so proud to announce that we have been named one of the 215 elephant friendly travel companies by World Animal Protection!

That means when you volunteer with us you know for sure the elephant program is one that isn't just helping the animals, it's not hurting them. We couldn't agree more with World Animal Protection's elephant campaign, elephants are wildlife, they are not entertainers!  We are committed to elephants, to their protection and sanctuary. None of the elephants at our partnered sanctuaries will ever be chained up. They will never be part of elephant rides. They will always be given ongoing and consistent medical care. They will always be respected and loved for the gorgeous animals they are. 

If you love elephants, volunteer with them! Just make sure you volunteer on and visit centres that are certified elephant friendly by World Animal Protection!