Vancouver Island wildlife facility celebrates 60,000th patient

A young fawn who was reunited with its mother marks one particularly memorable patient for Wild ARC wildlife assistant Ashley Currie.

When a barn swallow nestling arrived at Vancouver Island wildlife facility Wild ARC earlier this month it caused quite the stir, not because it was a particularly notable or rare addition, but because it marked the facility’s 60,000th patient to ever be admitted.

Wild ARC opened in the August of 1997 to celebrate the B.C. SPCA’s Victoria Center, and in that very first year it admitted only 291 patients. Now, the facility welcomes approximately 2,000 to 3,000 animals each year. The record-keeping at the facility, explains the organization’s centre manager Ashley Currie, is a meticulous process,

“We actually treat each animal, or each patient, as an individual. They’re all associated with a case number,” she says.

A waddling of rescued ducklings, for example, would each be given a letter after their joint patient number to ensure all the siblings are linked. Sometimes, for duckling groups especially, the alphabet winds up being utilised as far down as the letter I.

In the 28 years since its grand opening, Wild ARC has treated 180 different species.

“On average, we see about 140 species every year and 70 per cent of those are bird species,” says Currie, noting how Victoria is a landmark on the migratory map of so many avian species, which brings about a diversity locally that is far richer than other areas in B.C.

He other 30 per cent Are typically mammals mammals, bar the “occasional reptile or amphibian,” she says.

Earlier this season the facility welcomed a brown pelican, a particularly rare visitor for the area, and it went down in the books as one of the Wild ARC’s most notable rescues - of which there have been a few.

Currie has been with the organization since 2016, and in her first year she cared for a critter that she still reflects fondly on now. It was a beaver kit, she says, that had come from the South Peace region of Northern B.C. after being separated from her family during a flash flood.

“We received special permission from the ministry to transfer her to Wild ARC, and she stayed in our specialized pool pen facility for two years until she was finally ready for release back close to where she was found,” she says.

Part of Currie’s job at that time had been to help source branches of various sizes to aid the baby beaver in making a sturdy lodge in her enclosure. The lodge was crafted so well, one of the wildlife rehabilitators could actually stand and jump on it.

The beaver kit had been a “pretty special patient,” one of a few that have left a legacy long after they have been released into the wild, says Currie.

She notes another: A deer fawn who was brought in with a concussion after it had been hit by a car while crossing the road with its mom. After a few days of care, a Wild ARC wildlife rehabilitator returned to the area and was able to locate the correct doe and reunite the two.

“We used some methods to call her out, and then the little fawn ran up and the mom nuzzled her and let her feed right away, and off they ran,” she recalls.

Like the brown pelican, other patients that have been particularly memorable have been creatures rare or endangered. Over the winter a marbled murrelet, a small seabird known for its secretive and solitary nesting habits, was treated and successfully released. A fledgling American kestrel welcomed last year marked the first raptor of its kind the facility was able to raise and successfully release.

Despite the unique and endearing nature of some patients, Currie assures there are no soft spots formed and no bending when it comes to the rules.

“We don’t name them on purpose so that we don’t form attachments or humanize them in the way, like our pets that are domesticated and respond positively when we use their name or talk to and interact with them,” she says.

“With wildlife, they very much do see us as a predator, and we want to respect that and make sure that we can return them back to the wild in a way that they can to succeed and live a natural life.”

Around 80 per cent of the animals that come into the care of Wild ARC are admitted because of human interactions or conflicts and often, says Currie, “they’re not in great shape.”

Being hit by a car, colliding with a window, or being injured by a prowling dog or cat are the top reasons wildlife is brought in.

“Finding ways to coexist with wildlife is really important, and we have a lot of tips on our website of how people can do that.”