Local wildlife foundations partner to provide better care for raptors, mammals

The American Heritage Wildlife Foundation has partnered with the Raptor Freedom Project to provide specialized care for birds of prey in 2021, adding to the care the AHWF has been providing for other wildlife in North Idaho.

A combination of grant funding and donations over six months raised nearly $18,000. The joint grant for AHWF and RFP totaled just over $15,000, McGee said, and AHWF got another $2,000 from community donations.

Those funds will be used to buy oxygen concentrators with intensive care units, medical treatments for 30 animals and a lead level blood analyzer with test kits, said Kathleen St.Clair - McGee, founder and board of directors president for the AHWF.

The machine is one of two in the state that can test blood for lead poisoning, McGee said. The other is located in Boise.

Mya Jinright, the founder of RFP, is experienced as a veterinary technician, and plans to help provide care using those skills, McGee said.

The two organizations have already worked to help treat over a dozen birds, she said.

“The partnership will ensure birds of prey and most every species of native wild animals will have more trained professionals working on their behalf,” she said.

“Because she’s going to be assisting and be so closely with the raptors,” McGee said, “I’ll be able to focus on the other patients we get.”

AHWF is certified to rehabilitate 270 of 280 species in Idaho, McGee said. Those animals include chipmunks, deer, different kinds of squirrels, frogs, weasels, coyotes and more.

Sometimes, she said, wildlife rehabilitation is seen as something anyone can do or the profession isn’t taken seriously because volunteers aren’t paid for their work.

“It’s a profession,” McGee said. “We don’t get paid for it because all the money we get, it goes straight into the animal’s belly.”

The organization does two types of work, McGee said. One is the actual rehabilitation of wild animals, and acting as a resource for members of the public who encounter an animal they think might need help.

Volunteers regularly provide guidance and resources for those individuals, and the voice mail for the foundation includes instructions for individuals who find animals that might need to be rehabilitated.

The second job they do, McGee said, is to provide public education on wildlife including dozens of outreach programs in the community most years.

Funding from the grant will also be used for a large raptor enclosure, McGee said.

Grants for wildlife rehabilitation generally are not at the same scale as those received by animal shelters, McGee said.

One challenge with that is that with wildlife rehabilitation, she said, is that unlike other nonprofits there isn’t much tangible evidence people can experience firsthand.

Members of the public generally can’t interact with the wildlife, and although buildings are important, most funding goes straight back toward animal care.

Generally, AHWF’s annual operating costs with only volunteers is $10,000, McGee said. There are also plans for improvements to continue providing care for animals, so donations are important for that.

Volunteers have plans to build new mammal enclosures and improve existing ones, build a “nature walk” guided pathway with information about different kinds of wildlife, and purchase a therapeutic cold laser, which is used by veterinarians to improve healing, reduce swelling, reduce pain, and decrease the time required in care, McGee said.

The organization is also looking for more volunteers to train for a wide range of jobs, McGee said, including animal care, animal transport, office work and social media management.

Those who are interested in volunteering or who would like to learn more can do so by visiting the website at ahwf.org contacting Kathleen St.Clair - McGee at ahwf@sandpoint.net.