WAYNESBORO--I find myself visiting the Wildlife Center of Virginia often, because you never can be exactly sure what you'll bump into here.
Take last Friday.
On a morning visit there, I split time between an arrow-struck goose and an owl starring in an upcoming TV spot.
By afternoon, Director Ed Clark had detailed how a delegation from the center was put through tense moments fearing for their freedom in Venezuela, before eventually being tossed out of the country by the very military government that invited them.
Though there are always interesting animals recovering at the center, I made the trip to hear from Clark how Venezuelan leaders scuttled the seminar it tasked the Virginia Wildlife Center to create in the first place.
The story began in the '90s, when the Virginia Wildlife Center began getting international attention for its work caring for injured animals, from shaken squirrels to earth-bound eagles.
In 2002, the Wildlife Center of Virginia presented a three-day training program on wildlife medicine and environmental education in Venezuela to officers of the environmental guard, a wing of the military.
Center officials believe that sort of education is critical in Venezuela because illegal trafficking in wildlife is a serious problem there. Birds, primates, mammals and reptiles, including a number of species that are barred from export, are routinely taken from the wild and sold as food or pets.
In addition, many of the birds and other animals that end up on this continent by summer are the very ones who winter in parts of Latin America.
Clark said that after the 2002 training, center officials were asked to develop a more specific educational program for them.
Venezuelan officials wanted a hands-on program for soldiers, most of whom lack formal training on how to safely seize, rescue or transport the array of wildlife found in the illegal trade.
Clark said the center got $125,000 from several sources to publish a field manual on the emergency care of confiscated wildlife and to design training for wildlife first-responders throughout Latin America.
"I went back in 2004 and met with the commanding general of the Environmental Guard to show him a draft of the manual and outline the training we had designed," said Clark. The official said the program was on target and promised cooperation.
A conference date was set for September 2005, at a military facility in Caracas.
Just days before it was to start, the conference was canceled, probably due to a call from religious leader Pat Robertson for the assassination of the Venezuelan president.
Fast forward to the morning of March 27 this year.
Clark, along with the center's director of veterinary services, Dr. Patricia Bright, and a group of other wildlife experts, were heading into that same headquarters, bearing a big welcome banner.
But before they had the chance to go inside and see the waiting group of soldiers, park rangers and firefighters, the political winds shifted.
"We saw a big, black SUV roll through and suddenly, cell phones began to go off all around us," said Clark, noting that what had been a jovial reception turned chilly and tense in a heartbeat.
He'll never know for sure, but Clark thinks the SUV carried some official in the largely anti-U.S. government who didn't like the sight of his soldiers hobnobbing with Americans.
First, the word was there was a problem with the room. Then, trouble with presenters.
Finally, Clark and his crew, including two top Latin American wildlife experts, were told they would not be allowed to present. The conference was scrubbed.
The alternative?
"They suggested we might like to go to the beach," said Clark.
Unnerved by the sudden shift and anti-American sentiment swirling about, Clark and his group wasted no time getting on a plane for home.
Out the cost of travel and materials and confounded for being turned away by the very people who asked them to come, Clark has shared details of the incident with State Department officials. Early this week, there were indications he might get a chance to meet with Venezuelan officials in this country about the incident.
One positive thing: the booklet developed with the $125,000 was designed for all of Latin America, and will be shared in other countries throughout the region.
"So it's not a total loss," said Clark. "But the real losers are the soldiers and others in Venezuela who won't have the benefit of how to keep the wildlife and themselves safe. That's the shame."
No comment so far from the goose.
To reach ROB HEDELT:
Email: rhedelt@freelancestar.com