Wildlife Haven’s new campus takes flight

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This article was published 21/09/2019 (2110 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After spending 35 years helping sick, wounded, and orphaned wildlife heal and return home, Wildlife Haven Rehabilitation Centre finally has an ideal habitat of its very own.

The organization is holding a grand opening this Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. to mark the completion of its new $3.5 million campus near Ile des Chenes.

The free event will include tours of areas normally off-limits to the general public.

“We’re so excited to share this with the community,” Zoé Nakata, Wildlife Haven’s executive director, said Monday.

“We’re proud of what has been created here.”

The push to build Wildlife Haven a purpose-built facility took five years. About $700,000 in additional fundraising is still needed to finish off a few items around the 10-acre campus, but Nakata said it’s “done enough to have a party.”

The centrepiece of the Arnould Road property is a 9,600-sq-ft. multi-purpose building that houses an education centre, treatment and rehabilitation rooms, and administrative offices.

Visitors entering the airy foyer are greeted by glass display cases containing snakeskins, turtle shells, bird nests, and other wildlife artifacts. A bank of wall-mounted flatscreen televisions will display footage of patients receiving treatment.

One large wing of the building houses 13 winter enclosures for raptors, or birds of prey, who must be brought indoors when the mercury plummets. The floor is covered in a tough yet talon-friendly material similar to the durable matting used in hockey arenas.

The facility’s geothermal ventilation system doesn’t recirculate air, to avoid the transmission of smells and airborne diseases.

Around the corner is a small reptile room lined with terrariums. Nakata said the temperature and humidity can be adjusted separately, one of many features staff appreciate after years making do in converted spaces.

Established in a backyard in 1984, Wildlife Haven moved to the Glenlea Research Station in 1993. In 2008, it relocated to a decommissioned dairy barn near Ile des Chenes.

Nakata, who has a background in non-profit management, joined Wildlife Haven in April of last year.

“It’s such a fun job, you can see the impact right away,” the La Broquerie resident said.

Intakes occur at a separate entrance around the side of the building. The facility began accepting patients four months ago, and Nakata said more than 200 were treated over the summer.

The centre accepts birds, reptiles, amphibians, and small mammals like foxes, rabbits, and raccoons. Bears, skunks, and hooved animals are the jurisdiction of Manitoba Sustainable Development.

Wildlife Haven can dispatch a volunteer to pick up an animal, and has drop-off sites in Winnipeg. Conservation and police officers often bring in animals, while arrangements with trucking companies and regional airlines allow wildlife to be ferried in from the western and northern reaches of the province.

The only facility of its size between Toronto and Vancouver, Wildlife Haven serves Manitoba wildlife, but Nakata said they may occasionally accept an animal from Saskatchewan or northwestern Ontario.

Upon arrival, wildlife is whisked to a stainless steel examination room. After vitals are stabilized, wounds are dressed, and medication is administered, the animal is assigned to one of 11 configurable critical care rooms in the quiet back-end of the building.

A patient may have taken ill after drinking dirty water or ingesting human food. Others may have been struck by a vehicle or displaced from their natural habitat.

“About 90 percent of the cases that we see, we can trace it back to human activity,” Nakata said.

Recovery rooms have a small trap door to minimize human interaction. In February, when an otter arrived, Nakata said it spent 17 days recuperating without direct staff contact.

“Our main goal is rehabilitation, but our number two priority is to keep them wild,” she explained.

If a patient can’t be released back into the wild, they become permanent residents or “ambassadors” for Wildlife Haven’s education program.

On any given day, the centre’s dozen or so volunteers and three permanent staff, including a certified wildlife rehabilitator, are kept hopping. Nakata said intakes have increased by about 11 percent annually for the past five years. She expects that figure to reach as high as 30 percent this year, as the centre has already surpassed the 1,910 patients it cared for last year.

Other than a summer jobs grant, Nakata said Wildlife Haven receives no government funding, and relies on private donations to operate.

Over in the kitchen, commercial refrigerators were stocked with mealworms for the turtles and white rats for the raptors. Nakata said orphaned chicks are among the most demanding to feed, requiring nourishment every 20 minutes.

A few steps from the main building is a 1,200-sq-ft. waterfowl enclosure with rubberized flooring and artificial ponds that can be stocked with minnows and grubs. Migratory waterfowl are difficult to care for, Nakata explained, as those not rehabilitated in time for fall must be kept until spring.

“That’s the hospital, this is the physiotherapy,” she said, pointing to larger outdoor enclosures for bald eagles nearing the end of their stay. When complete, two adjacent flyways will allow raptors to rebuild their stamina in the lead-up to release.

The grounds were designed with interpretive tours in mind, and feature a patch of tall grass prairie and an observation deck overlooking a “wetscape.”

The property includes a further eight acres reserved for possible future development.

Wildlife Haven’s neighbour, TC Energy, leased them the land for 50 years. Nakata said an environmental study found the centre’s proximity to the company’s compressor station will carry no adverse effects.