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Local Eco Institute spreads love and awareness for rescued wildlife this Valentine's

Hoping to find the perfect suitor this Valentine's Day? Join the rest of the animal kingdom.

Hoping to find the perfect suitor this Valentine's Day? Join the rest of the animal kingdom. 

The Cochrane Ecological Institute (CEI) is showcasing a number of different animal dating profiles as a fun way to highlight how humans and animals often aren't so different in their quest for love, and to raise awareness for the rescue and rehabilitation of local wildlife. 

"This time of year is the beginning of when owls and other species begin to get active and start calling and looking for love," said CEI president Clio Smeeton. "The owls really start earlier than anything else and that sort of kicks it off."

While elk and many other large animals do not enter mating season until the fall, animals with shorter gestation periods, such as coyotes or foxes, will soon be heard producing mating calls.

The swift fox, Smeeton said, can be heard from up to two kilometres away and not only tends to pursue a partner for life, but is also discerning in their search — much like humans. 

"A young swift fox who is old enough to breed, won't breed when she's old enough — she'll breed when she's chosen a male fox, and one who is slightly older."

The female will choose an older fox to be her "forever lover," said Smeeton, because she knows he has survived and is capable of hunting and providing for their kits. 

Even then, she may still be uninterested and wait until another comes along to find the perfect match. 

Red foxes, on the other hand, are more likely to avoid a lifelong partnership and will choose to have many affairs instead — also not unlike humans. 

The wildlife institute rescues injured and orphaned animals that are native to the area, and part of the dating profile project is to spread awareness of our shared environment with each creature, Smeeton said.

"We hope people can have sympathy or empathy for the animals that share the world with them, and people do.

"But a lot of the orphaned animals we get, in fact, almost every orphaned animal we get — comes to us as a result of human and wildlife interaction," she said. 

The institute, which has been around since 1964, has helped to rehabilitate and release 270 animals back into the wild from the beginning of 2021 to date; including moose, bears, birds and several other species.

It is not without their on site Happytails Pet Retreat for cats and dogs and the help of donations from the public that they are able to achieve this feat. 

"If people board their animals with us, then the funding from from that goes towards helping wildlife rehab," said Smeeton. "We really appreciate all the help we can get and it also shows that the people of Alberta do like their wildlife and they want them to still be here."

To keep tabs on the Cochrane Ecological Institute's animal dating profiles and learn more about the area's local fauna, visit their Facebook page.

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