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A wild animal living in a natural environment faces many challenges, such as competing for food, water, space, and other resources with other animals. They are surrounded by predators in their natural environment. In this situation, sickness, injury, and death are natural parts of the animal’s life, and human intervention is not required. However, if a wild animal is injured because of human activities, such as being hit by a car or being caught in a trap, this means that the pressures of surviving in the wild for the animal are caused by humans. Should not this problem be solved by humans?
This is indeed the case. Therefore, many countries around the world have established wild animal rescue centers and aid centers to conduct medical treatment and conservation studies for the wild animals. Examples of the centers include The Raptor Center of the University of Minnesota, The Raptor Center of the University of California in Davis, and The Wildlife Center of Virginia in the United States. The episode also visits the Wildlife Aid Station of the Endemic Species Research Institute in Nantou, which is an important wildlife rescue center in Taiwan. This episode will take you on a tour of the first wildlife rescue center in eastern Taiwan: WildOne Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center.
The WildOne Wildlife Rescue Center is located in Chishang Township, Taitung and was established by the WildOne Wildlife Conservation Association on August 15 last year. This center just celebrated its first anniversary. During the first year of operations, WildOne has rescued 217 wild animals, from birds (such as the collared scops owl, crested goshawk, and Taiwan barbet) and mammals (such as the pangolin, Reeve’s muntjac, civets, and Formosan rock macaque), to reptiles and amphibians (such as the yellow pond turtle, Deinagkistrodon, and Chinese stripe-necked turtles). Among these animals, 67 wild animals were treated and returned to the forests.
Why was a non-profit wildlife rescue center established in the eastern region of Taiwan? The founder and secretary-general of WildOne Wildlife Conservation Association, Chi Meng-Jou, tells a story about the rescue of a Reeve’s muntjac in 2015. One day at the end of 2015, Veterinarian Chi Meng-Jou, who was working in the NPUST Endangered Wildlife Shelter at the time, received a call from the Taitung County Government. She was informed that a Reeve’s muntjac was attacked by stray dogs and has suffered extensive injuries to the neck. However, at the time, both parties were unable to spare manpower to handle the situation. After work that night, she rushed to Taitung to collect the Reeve’s muntjac and was well after midnight by the time she returned to Pingtung. The Reeve’s muntjac was in critical state and only had a weak heartbeat. After evaluating the injuries, the animal was sadly euthanized.
Chi Meng-Jou realized that the Hualien and Taitung region contains a wide range of wildlife but there are no local resources for wildlife rescue. Injured animals often have to be transported to Taipei Zoo or NPUST for treatment, which would be a seven to eight hour return trip. Therefore, the eastern parts of Taiwan desperately required a large wildlife rescue center to better care for the injured animals and increase the success rate of treatment.
With this idea in mind, Chi Meng-Jou established the association with a few likeminded friends. They gave speeches around Taiwan to advocate and fundraise for wildlife rescue. After more than three years of planning, the WildOne Wildlife Rescue Center was officially opened in August, 2020, finally filling the gap in the eastern part of Taiwan for wildlife rescue.
The WildOne Wildlife Conservation Association and the rescue center have leased a building from the Chishang Pastoral Farm Resort. The building covers an area of around 500 square meters and consists of two floors. Because the building was originally a cafe, WildOne completely remodeled the interior space and constructed cages to cater to the numerous species of rescued wildlife of varying ages, including their different habits and different needs. Today, apart from office space, the first floor also contains a nursery, space for pangolin care, and monkey cages. The second floor includes a medical care area, hospitalization department, and wildlife release training room.
At 9 a.m. on the morning of the interview, we could see many veterinarians and caregivers busily working in the nursery. The nursery is home to many baby birds and animals. Because these small animals require more frequent care, the nursery was placed next to the office in order to be more convenient for the veterinarians and caregivers to provide care. On that day, the nursery contained two small swifts, two Formosan rock macaques, a striated swallow, a red collared dove, and a Coxing's white-bellied rat, totaling seven baby animals.
These animals were in their own separate cages. The veterinarians and caregivers opened the cages one by one to care for the animals. The animals were first weighed then inspected to see if their physical appearance and bodily functions were normal before they were fed. The cage were also cleaned to remove any feces or food residue. After the cages were cleaned, the animals were returned to their cages. In order to avoid the Formosan rock macaques from becoming too close to humans, the caregivers put on special camouflage outfits to disguise themselves as trees before interacting with the monkeys.
The adult wildlife that required care were kept in the hospitalization department on the second floor. On the day of the interview, the department contained grey treepie, Taiwan barbet, collared scops owl, masked palm civet, and other animals. When they recover and no longer require medical care, they will be transferred to other cages or areas for rehabilitation.
In this episode, Secretary-general Chi Meng-Jou of the WildOne Wildlife Conservation Association will introduce the first non-profit wildlife rescue center in eastern Taiwan.
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