Leonardo da Vinci

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

This is my first opportunity to say hello and thank you to all Project Wildlife members. I want all of you to be proud of our organization and understand how your contributions help wildlife as well as help the community. So, I will give an overview of Project Wildlife with some interesting facts and statistics.

Project Wildlife's mission is to care for native wildlife, be they orphaned or injured, nurse them back to health and release them back to nature where they belong. We also educate the community on wildlife issues. 

For the past four years Project Wildlife has, on average, cared for over 10,000 animals annually. We operate under strict rules and permits from the US Department of Agriculture, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Department of Fish and Game. All permits must be renewed annually and involve annual inspections.

Tender loving care is provided by over 350 faithful volunteers. Some volunteers work far more than eight hours per day, seven days per week, tending to their "patients." We estimate that our volunteers contribute over 100,000 hours of their time each year. 

PW has a small Care Center where the public, businesses and government agencies drop off animals needing help. The Care Center is a 960 square foot building sited on a 1600 square foot lot we rent from the San Diego Humane Society. Although PW operates countywide, the majority of the animals we care for are taken to the Care Center - over 7200 in 2001!

PW is organized into 24 teams. Teams specialize in a species (e.g., hummingbirds, seabirds, foxes, etc.) or a task. Team care is coordinated by team leaders and supervised by a veterinarian using up-to-date procedures and medications. The Care Center is limited in size, so all mammals and many birds must go to the homes of over 170 volunteers for rehabilitation.

PW could not help the number of animals involved if we did not have the use of members' homes and property. Without home care, PW would require a very large central site. Hundreds of pens, cages, and aviaries are used. For example, birds must be able to fly before release (large flight aviaries are used for conditioning); deer must be removed from human contact and released near where they are rehabilitated.

Project Wildlife's Education Team travels countywide with unreleasable native wildlife to present informational programs at schools, parks, service clubs, and a variety of other venues. In 2001, the 26 birds and mammals traveled over 11,000 miles to 347 locations educating the public on topics such as: wildlife's place in a healthy environment; what to do if you find an injured or orphaned animal; how to co-exist with native wildlife. 

We have a Telephone Team that provides the public help with wildlife emergencies, describing what to do for or how to get help for injured animals. Over 5000 calls were answered by "real people" in 2001. 

We have a Transport Team who volunteer their time and vehicles to rescue or retrieve animals needing help, then transport the animal to a team member or the Care Center. A Cage Building team donates time building and erecting caging and aviaries. There are six large aviaries in the pipeline at the present time.

Driving distance to a PW volunteer or the Care Center is often a deciding factor as to whether an individual will bring Project Wildlife an animal that needs help. Additional drop off centers are needed. North County is especially critical because of the lack of rehabilitators in the area and freeway congestion. 

Project Wildlife now has a mobile clinic to help injured and orphaned wildlife. In cooperation with the County of San Diego, the mobile clinic will be stationed at North County Animal Control, across from Palomar Airport, five days per week during baby season (May until August) where the public may take animals needing help.

You may ask, "Doesn't all this take considerable resources?" The answer is yes! 

Costs continue to rise while contributions are down, and we operate solely on private contributions. The support we get from our volunteers is invaluable. There is no support from the public sector. 

Therefore, we need your donations, be they in the form of your time, your money, or "in kind" materials such as food, paper products, animal carriers, etc. 

I hope that after reading this, you will have a greater appreciation of the reach and scope of PW's activities and will do all you can to help maintain our important services that reduce the mortality and suffering of our native wildlife. 

Ruth Hayward, President

Do We Have Your Current E-mail Address?

We'll send you advance notice of special events, remind you when it's time to renew your membership, send invitations to members-only lectures, and more! Eventually, we will even be able to send you the Back to Nature newsletter electronically!

Please take the time to give us your e-mail address either by visiting our web site at www.projectwildlife.org.. 

Thanks for your help!

Back to Nature newsletter is published quarterly by:
Project Wildlife
4343 Morena Blvd., #7
San Diego, CA 92117

Project Wildlife is a nonprofit, nonpolitical, volunteer organization dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and release of San Diego County Wildlife. Project Wildlife is also dedicated to the education of San Diego County residents on local wildlife and how to coexist with local mammals and birds.

To get in touch with Project Wildlife, see our contact page

Ways to Give:
Endowment Program
United Way Donations
Flowers for Wildlife
Protectors of Wildlife

Programs:
Education Department and Programs