Barn owl with New Mexico Wildlife Center volunteer. (Photo by Ginny Seamster)
Do you want to know more about New Mexico’s wildlife? Have you found an animal that is clearly injured or otherwise appears to be in need of help? Who can you call? The New Mexico Wildlife Center, based in Española, is an excellent resource and can answer many of your questions about injured, orphaned, or incapacitated wildlife. The Center receives countless calls and provides medical examinations and treatment for hundreds of sick or injured animals each year.
X-ray machine at New Mexico Wildlife Center. (Photo by Ginny Seamster)
Native plant garden at New Mexico Wildlife Center. (Photo by Ginny Seamster)
If you’ve found an animal you think may need help, call the Center first. Their staff is well trained and knowledgeable about wildlife biology and health. They will be able to tell you whether it is appropriate to move the animal and either bring it to their facility or meet with a volunteer transporter somewhere in the middle if you live far away from Española.
Educational raptor: bald eagle. (Photo by Ginny Seamster)
The Center has a full medical treatment facility with machines for taking x-rays and analyzing blood samples and tables for examining and operating on injured wildlife. They have numerous enclosures especially designed to house animals while they are recovering from an illness or injury. Their staff has extensive experience working with wildlife and are even collecting novel medical data that can be useful not only for their work but for work being done by other wildlife rehabilitators who work with the same species.
Educational display at New Mexico Wildlife Center describing animal and plant communities in the state. (Ginny Seamster)
The Center also houses around thirty animals for educational purposes. These birds, reptiles, and mammals cannot be released to the wild but provide visitors to the Center with the opportunity of seeing New Mexico’s wildlife up close and personal and learning more about their biology and ecology from interpretive signs and tours that Center staff conduct. Center staff train the raptors to perch on their arm and can take many of the educational animals to events off-site. Species that can be viewed at the center include bald eagle, bobcat, cooper’s hawk, and osprey.