The National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association held their 2018 “Partnering for Wildlife” Symposium in Anaheim, CA during the first week of March. International Bird Rescue was proud to Co-Host the event along with Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center, Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network and California Wildlife Center. Staff and volunteers spent many hours preparing presentations, labs, special events and entertainment for the symposium. Those hours were invested well, as “Partnering for Wildlife” was a huge success!
The NWRA symposium was a wonderful opportunity for wildlife rehabilitators to network, share their experiences, and learn a wealth of new information from other organizations and experts. Bird Rescue was fortunate to have many staff and volunteers involved with the event being held so close to home.
The 2018 symposium truly was an event of partnership, from the collaboration of the host organizations to the cooperative seminars that were held throughout the conference. Bird Rescue Operations Manager, Julie Skoglund, and Veterinarian Dr. Rebecca Duerr worked with representatives from Bird Ally X, Focus Wildlife, Oiled Wildlife Care Network, and Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research to hold an all-day Oiled Wildlife Seminar on rehabilitating oiled birds – from intake to release. The team gave presentations and led discussion groups to help teach participants about the complexities of caring for oiled wildlife. The process involves far more than simply removing the oil, and topics included stabilization, nutritional needs, the importance of blood values, waterproofing, and release conditioning in addition to the wash process. The seminar leaders were all able to share their knowledge and experience by going over case examples from their various locations. Bird Rescue was honored to work alongside these groups to help improve the care of oiled wildlife across our nation.
Dr. Duerr also worked alongside several other wildlife veterinarians and California Department of Fish and Wildlife to teach an all-day seminar for licensed Veterinarians and Veterinary Technicians to learn skills needed to treat wildlife patients in private practice and the related rules and regulations. Dr. Duerr also gave a talk on the harmful algal bloom that affected so many of our loon patients last spring, plus lecture and labs on avian anatomy and necropsy.