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Wildlife Center of Virginia educational animals are injured in ways that prevent release Date published: 6/2/2009 By Rob Hedelt SEVEN-year-old Sierra Radford's eyes lit up when the leather-gloved educator, sharing a message about the importance of "wild" in wildlife, gently pulled a barred owl from its cage. The Berkeley Elementary School first-grader frowned when she heard that the small owl had fallen out of a nest near Mechanicsville. The Spotsylvania County student was a tad confused to hear that the folks who found and kept the owl doomed it to captivity by imprinting it on humans. "What many people don't know is that it's illegal to keep wild animals in captivity," said Quinn Robinson, an educator with the Wildlife Center of Virginia in Waynesboro. By program's end, Sierra was glad to know Gus had found a good home with the Wildlife Center and she began asking questions like, "Can he turn his head all the way around?" A long way, said Quinn, but not all the way around. I've seen the Wildlife Center's education animals in many settings, from schools to outdoor events and even on television on "Today." The education staff at the center recently explained where the animals come from, what makes them work as educational ambassadors and how these wild animals are trained to keep their cool in classrooms and beyond. Gretchen Achenbach and Kelly Rourke, director and coordinator of environmental education, provided a quick primer. First off, all of the animals used for educational programs, which run the gamut of topics from "Critters Don't Need Litter" to "Whoo's Awake in the Night?" are injured or impaired in ways that make it impossible for them to be released after coming in for treatment. Many of the birds of prey which include eagles, hawks, owls and more, have injuries to wings or eyes, making it impossible to hunt or survive in nature. Other animals, be they possums or rat snakes, have been cared for by humans to the point that they never learned how to make it in the wild. But, said the educators, not every animal or species is suited to be an education animal. And there's only space for two dozen or so.
Date published: 6/2/2009
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