Wildlife

Wildlife Rehabilitation Welfare Standards

Wildlife rehabilitation centres provide care for injured and orphaned wild animals, and the welfare standards within these facilities significantly affect outcomes for treated animals.

Key Facts

Hundreds of wildlife rescue centres operate across the UK treating hundreds of thousands of animals annually
Success rates for rehabilitation vary enormously by species and injury type
Human habituation during rehabilitation can reduce post-release survival in some species
Stress from handling and captivity causes welfare harm beyond the original injury
Release site selection significantly affects post-release survival and welfare

Welfare Considerations

Wildlife rehabilitation involves a welfare trade-off between the immediate harm of captivity and treatment versus the potential benefit of survival and return to the wild. Animals that are too habituated to humans for safe release cannot be rehabilitated and require either permanent captivity or euthanasia. Best practice rehabilitation minimises human contact, provides species-appropriate environments, and rigorously assesses release readiness before return to the wild.

What You Can Do

Support licensed wildlife rehabilitation centres financially and through volunteering
Never attempt to rehabilitate wild animals without appropriate training and licensing
Report injured wildlife to RSPCA, SSPCA, or local wildlife rescue centres
Do not feed or interact with wildlife in ways that create human habituation
Support the Wildlife & Countryside Act licensing framework for wildlife rehabilitation