About
WildARC
The Wild Animal Rehabilitation Center of East Carolina
(WildARC) is a non-profit, tax exempt organization dedicated
to the care and preservation of native wildlife.
Providing services for Craven and surrounding counties, The WildARC of East Carolina
is both an acute care center for injured and sick wildlife and a nurturing
center for orphaned wildlife too young to exist on their own. WildARC of East
Carolina operates as a temporary refuge for wildlife, as The WildARC's goal
is not to make pets of them, but to release the animals back into their native
habitat healthy, wild and free.
The WildARC of East Carolina was founded with the following mission:
The WildARC of East Carolina provides the citizens of eastern North Carolina
with a place for the professional care of injured, sick or orphaned wildlife
with the goal of returning them to the wild. Through the
rehabilitation of native wildlife, the presentation of educational programs, and
the creation of positive interactions with animals, the WildARC enhances the
community's relationship with its natural environment.
The WildARC of East Carolina conducts its mission through the following :
1. The diagnosis and treatment of the animals' problems by licensed
rehabilitators and a local veterinarian who donates his services.
2. The providing of proper shelter and care until the animal has regained its
health.
3. The ongoing training and educating of both experienced and new volunteers.
4. Providing outreach programs to schools and organizations.
5. The involving of teenagers in the supervised feeding of orphaned birds.
WildARC of East Carolina is permitted to care for native wildlife by the North
Carolina Wildlife Resources
Commission and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
As a non-profit organization The WildARC of East Carolina is manned by the
Executive Director and a small cadre of volunteers who donate a minimum of four
hours a week. The Executive Director is not paid for her
efforts and works every day supervising and training the volunteers. Currently
the Center has 14 steady volunteers.
Annual Call for New Volunteers
The WildARC is open 7 days a week, 365
days a year. We are open on all holidays - wild animals do not know
when they shouldn't get into trouble. There are two shifts a day, 9 a.m.
to 1 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Prospective volunteers are asked to commit
at least one shift a week, and work that same shift each week. This
ensures there are enough people tending to the animals at all times. Annually,
an orientation class is held on the second Saturday of April, at 1 p.m.
This year (2008) that will be April 12th. At
this class all shifts are filled as we prepare for the very busy baby season.
If you are interested in volunteering come to the class or call us at
252-638-4646.
The WildARC of East Carolina opened its doors to the public October 15, 1998. It
treated 18 animals that year. Since our humble beginning we have cared for over
6595 animals. The care and treatment of wild animals
is very different from domestic animals. Wild animals do not respond to strokes
or soothing voices. They are frightened and under a great deal of stress while
in treatment. This dictates that special care and handling
techniques must be learned and used by the volunteers.
Injured animals are housed in kennel cabs or caging suitable for stress
reduction and ones that cannot cause any more injuries. Animals are kept in an
Intensive Care Unit that is closed to the public, and kept
quiet. Depending on the injuries, medications are prescribed by the Executive
Director or the veterinarian, wounds treated, and re-hydration and nutrition
schedules are established. If an animal is so severely
debilitated that it cannot eat, it is gently force fed until well enough to eat
on its own. Infants that are brought to the Center during spring and summer are
cared for in a large nursery that has plenty of natural light and open to the
sounds of nature outside. Special cages have been built that meet or exceed the minimum
standards for different animals established by the
International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council (IWRC) and the National Wildlife
Rehabilitators Association (NWRA). The U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service as part of the requirements to obtain rehabilitation
permits for migratory species
has adopted these minimum standards.
Because the Center cannot anticipate the types of wild animals that will require
its services, all kinds of
foods must be kept to ensure proper nutritional levels can be maintained. The
Center raises its own mice
for raptors, in the fall volunteers harvest nuts and berries in the wild for
spring babies, mealworms and infant
formulas are purchased from commercial sources.
The needs of the Center are many. We receive only public donations at this time,
and that is sufficient to keep it
going, without growth. The future will only bring more animals in need, as more
and more natural habitat is
destroyed to make way for human beings. These animals have less and less
opportunities to exist and procreate
their species. One of the most important functions of the Center is to ensure
that these species have the
opportunity to thrive in their dwindling habitat, and that we stem the tide
toward extinction.
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email us at:
info@wildarc.org
Last Updated On :
03/03/2008