Wildlife Rescue and Research Center veterinarian Hsiao Shun-ting (蕭舜庭) has called on the public to support the center so that it could treat more wild animals.
The center treats about 600 wild animals per year, of which 70 percent are birds, 20 percent are mammals and 10 percent are reptiles, said Hsiao, who is one of six veterinarians at the center.
He first worked at a veterinary clinic for pets after he graduated, but decided to work at the center after six months, Hsiao said.
“A vet’s job is to work with animals, domestic or wild, but pets have owners to decide what treatment they should get,” Hsiao added.
“It is a demanding job that requires around-the-clock service and a wide repertoire of knowledge,” as any animal, from a crab-eating mongoose to a Chinese box turtle or even a leopard cat, could be the next patient, Hsiao said.
Center veterinarians must base treatments on an animal’s habitat, its physiology and whether it is to be released back into the wild, he said.
Hsiao shared the experience of treating a turtle whose shell was broken, saying that it was similar to treating a fracture in a human.
“We had to piece the shell together and hold it together by fastening screws to ensure that it would heal,” Hsiao said.
Another case involved providing an intravenous drip for a pangolin cub after the person who found it accidentally fed it the wrong kind of food, he said.
Most birds treated at the center arrive with injuries caused by accidents, such as legs accidentally severed by farmers, Hsiao said, adding that they also treat baby birds blown out of nests.
People who find an injured animal should first check whether it is breathing and if it has external injuries, then it is up to a center veterinarian to attend to it and diagnose the injury or condition, he said.
All animals are kept for observation after treatment and processed for rehabilitation, before being prepared to be released back into the wild, Hsiao added.
Only 40 percent of the wild animals treated at the center can be released back into the wild, he said.
The center does consider using euthanasia if an animal is too severely injured or the center is running out of room for animals, although it houses some of the more friendly animals that are not fit to return to the wild, letting them help with training or education projects, he added.
The center, established in 1993, last year moved to Nantou County’s Jiji Township (集集), next to the Council of Agriculture’s Endemic Species Research Institute.
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