Skunks, beavers and foxes, oh my.
It is shaping up to be one of Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation (AIWC) busier seasons as the shelter is currently holding 205 patients and receives 20 new animals a day on average.
“It can be hard to keep up with groceries, we are always accepting monetary donations but we also have a ‘wish list’ on our website,” said Holly Duvall, AIWC executive director.
“We try to feed the animals a balanced diet and we want to give them good quality food so they can heal faster.”
Some of the items on their wish list include lean ground beef, eggs, carrots, apples, lettuce and blueberries.
While the shelter takes in a variety of wildlife including foxes, birds, porcupines, fawns and bats, in the past couple of weeks the staff has seen an influx of skunk babies (kits) with 57 currently in care and 18 are almost ready to be released back into the wild.
“We think people are relocating their mothers without realizing they have kits and accidently orphaning them,” Duvall said.
The shelter is also host to a famous baby beaver (kit) that went viral on their official Facebook page earlier this month, when staff posted a 30-second clip of the kit playing in pool with more than 600,000 views and more than 8,000 shares.
“It is definitely a busy season,” Duvall said.
With patient intake numbers increased, so far the shelter has received 1,235 animals compared to 978 by this time last year, the staff said they are grateful for all the support and donations they received.
The shelter is also constructing a new facility specifically for aquatic birds that broke ground last week. Duvall said they are hopefully to have the new building up and ready to host patients in three months.
The shelter employs a regular group of five full-time staff (plus interns) and heavily relies on the 150 active volunteers, which they are always accepting with the next volunteer orientation season in September.
The institute has been a registered charity since 1993 and is accredited through the Alberta Veterinary Medical Association, the mission statement calls the staff champions for the rehabilitation of injured and orphaned wildlife.
The wildlife conservation is located 30 minutes northeast of Cochrane, near Madden.
For more information on how to support AIWC go online to aiwc.ca/support-us/ or call the institute at 403-946-2361.
