PHOTO PROVIDED
Shown is a bald eagle that was delivered by Wildlife in Need to a rehabilitation center in Stroudsburg in this photo by WIN. Wildlife in Need is a completely volunteer-based statewide organization that helps transport injured animals to rehabilitation centers so they can be treated and released back into the wild.
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Wildlife in Need founder Sue DeArment is more than happy with what her organization is able to do and how much it’s grown from 2017 to now.
The statewide organization — which helps capture injured animals and bring them to rehabilitation centers throughout Pennsylvania to recover — sees numerous animals transported throughout the Commonwealth to rehabilitation centers.
But, while Wildlife in Need has grown leaps and bounds since 2017, one thing still seems to be a problem: finding volunteers.
The organization is run by volunteers all coordinating with each other to get injured animals from Point A to Point B.
For instance if an injured falcon is found in Erie, DeArment and her organization will look to get a transporter to bring that bird to a volunteer in another county. And then that volunteer will coordinate to meet another volunteer and so forth until the bird is at the nearest rehabilitation center.
While a lot of volunteers help Wildlife in Need succeed — currently 185 — more are needed, and DeArment hopes more get involved.
“We do need more because not all volunteers are available at all times. A lot of our volunteers work and they just can’t be available, and we understand that. … We have an outreach program where we’re going to be setting up booths. We started last year and we had some success, but most of our success has been through getting the word out on social media,” DeArment said.
That includes seeing ten applicants just recently applying.
DeArment noted that all volunteers do go through a background check and they Wildlife in Need sees what they want to apply for. The organization has three different volunteer opportunities: dispatch, transporter and transfer and transport committee. Transporters are wildlife couriers who only transport animals who are already contained.
“A lot of the challenge is distance with some of the volunteers who want to get their permits and they don’t have a rehabilitation center that they can get to know, or be able to know, on a routine basis in order to learn how to handle wild animals who are already contained,” DeArment said. “But they need to be picked up or moved. So there’s a problem with that that we’re trying to work on.”
DeArment knows there’s always issues and problems that arise when volunteers make up a large portion of an organization, and that’s fine. DeArment is doing her best with it.
“There’s always new challenges when it comes to volunteering and trying to retain them. Things happen with volunteers,” DeArment said.
One thing Wildlife in Need instituted this year is monthly Zoom meetings with volunteers so that everyone came enter the Zoom meeting and talk with one another to tell DeArment and others what challenges have arisen. And often, other volunteers will chime in and mention they’ve encountered this or that, and give advice to others.
“When it becomes a statewide organization, often times you feel a little bit isolated because you maybe have a distance away from the next volunteer, and we’re trying to work around that,” DeArment said. “We ask whenever somebody comes on board, contact those who are in your area. You’ll get their schedules and just introduce yourself.”
DeArment noted that includes introducing oneself to wildlife rehabilitators and the Game Commission officers since Wildlife in Need is licensed under the PGC.
“We do work together with the Game Commission. We’ve gone out on a couple eagle rescues on the western side of the state with officers meeting us,” DeArment said. “I will train if they need the training. So each one of these volunteer opportunities and being out in the field, you can teach them something.”
DeArment noted that she believes Wildlife in Need is doing a solid job with their mission but, like any profession, she thinks they have the ability to do better.
“There’s always room for improvement. Look how many animals now are getting to the rehab center that never got the chance? Just those numbers — it’s over 3,000 calls a year. Out of those, probably 2,500 made it to rehab centers,” DeArment said. “Here we are getting animals to rehabilitator because we don’t want these people who have good intentions trying to feed or raise animals when they don’t really know what they’re doing and want them to survive. There’s more than just surviving. They have to be with their own kind.
“One goal with rehabilitators is returning wildlife back to the wild. We want them to have the best treatment that they can get,” DeArment said.
And with Wildlife in Need and it’s numerous volunteers, those animals are able to get just that.