Volunteers and interns are an integral part of the successful rescue, rehabilitation, and release of the over 4,000 patients that arrive at California Wildlife Center each year. Volunteers are present at CWC seven days a week, 365 days per year to assist the wildlife technicians with day-to-day animal care tasks including cleaning and maintenance of enclosures, and giving the patients their diets, medications, and enrichment.
By Jasmine Regalado, Volunteer Coordinator
With a small staff and 4,300 patients admitted each year, it quickly becomes obvious how important volunteers are to California Wildlife Center (CWC). Volunteers may be the first point of contact for members of the public, rescuers on the beaches of Malibu, line cooks preparing a multitude of diets, or nurses helping to medicate patients. CWC volunteers are a group of passionate and extremely generous folks who make our facility run on all cylinders.
Our volunteers commit to a shift of four hours per week, on the same day and time every week, for a minimum of six months. This allows for consistency with their assigned team and ensures there is always coverage to care for our patients. We are incredibly lucky to have such committed folks—some of whom have been with us for over 10 years! There are a multitude of reasons why our volunteers choose CWC to donate their time to, but every single one of them is passionate about wildlife rehabilitation and conservation.
Each animal that arrives at CWC is received by a volunteer, examined by our hospital staff then cared for by staff and volunteers until they are ready for release. This can take anywhere from just a couple of weeks if the patient is an adult bird with minor injuries, to several months if they are an orphan or juvenile. Regardless of the time any animal spends at CWC, their well-being is of the utmost importance to us. Every patient receives the highest standard of rehabilitative care. Most of the patients require handfeeding and each will spend some time inside, which means that their enclosures must be changed out daily (at a minimum), and once outside volunteers assist with setting up enclosures to represent the outside world and to care for the patients as they prepare for release. For the 150+ species of animal, each needs a different diet based on their species and age—and those diets are meticulously created by our volunteers! Last year, our volunteers donated over 28,000 hours—incredible work by a group of 240 people.
Simply put, we would not be able to operate without the help of the extremely generous volunteers that donate their time, expertise, and passion for wildlife. We recognize and appreciate our volunteers and are incredibly lucky to have them work beside us. human caused, so it’s only fair that there exists some human interference to try and repair some of the damage.
Vet Volunteer Griselda assisting Dr. Purdin with hawk examination
Intern Austin prepares medication for patients
Volunteer Susan assisting with administrative work
Interns Natalie & Harleen preparing hawks for transfer
By Delores Chan
Photo by Kristilee Kodis
My journey with CWC began back in 2019, when I became a volunteer in the Orphan Care Unit. At this time, I was months away from graduating with my bachelor’s degree didn’t have much of an idea of what to do next. During my time volunteering, I had the opportunity to work with other interns who all really enjoyed their internship, which made me think about applying for the position.
During my internship in OCU, I not only learned more about animal care and rehabilitation, but I also learned how to better my communication and time management skills. I was sad to see my internship come to an end, but I had achieved my goal of leaving with a better sense of what I wanted to do in terms of my career.
Post-internship, I decided to apply to graduate school for a master’s degree in environmental science. In December of 2021, CWC was hiring for seasonal wildlife technicians, and I knew I had to apply.
Come March of 2022, I am one of three seasonal wildlife technicians. Every experience and opportunity so far has been so educational and fulfilling. This position has not been without its learning curves but having been a volunteer and intern has certainly primed me for what is expected of myself as a seasonal wildlife technician. The rest of the full-time staff have all been so patient and encouraging as we continue to learn and grow in our positions. I am so excited and ready to take on this season with my fellow staff members, volunteers, and interns!
By Heather Henderson, Marine Program Manager
Photo by Kristilee Kodis
CWC responds to hundreds of distressed marine mammals along the Malibu coastline each year, performing rescues when appropriate. The strength and backbone of the program stems from our team of devoted volunteers. Without their countless hours of demanding work, our ability to efficiently investigate reports and care for in-house patients would be hindered. Thus, the higher the skillset of team volunteers, the greater the number of distressed animals that can be offered assistance. Additionally, the experience becomes more rewarding for the individual.
Early fall 2021, we were ecstatic to rollout our new training program for marine mammal volunteers! Historically there was a protocol manual to read and opportunistic observation of skills. Now, for a dozen of the more complex topics, we are implementing interactive training sessions followed by videos for review of each topic to help maintain skills during the slower “off-season”. The first topic covered was RESCUE. This three-hour on-site session included a group presentation followed by skills practice on location. Running drills at the beach while using the same equipment implemented during live animal calls enabled the re-creation of real-life scenarios.
One of the most important variations we practiced was how to adjust a response technique for different species. There are five species of pinnipeds (seals and sea lions) in SoCal. Most years we see three or four of them, however in 2021 our team responded to all five pinniped species, which only happened one other time in our 23-year history. The marine mammal rescue team also responded to eighteen other species including dolphins, marine birds – shore birds and offshore pelagic birds and a sea turtle. Having the opportunity to practice these augmentations in approach is invaluable to prepare new team members for challenges to come, while refreshing skills for veterans and forging bonds between them.
With the success of our fall rollout, the marine program staff is looking forward to continuing in 2022.
By Kristilee Kodis, Volunteer and Outreach Manager
A CWC volunteer feeding a Squirrel
Photo by Cambria Wells
Volunteering at California Wildlife Center is a great way to contribute to the welfare of native wildlife. When you donate your time, you are afforded the opportunity to work with wild animals in a unique setting. Our goal is to rescue and rehabilitate sick, injured and orphaned native wildlife. We achieve that goal only with the dedication of our 200+ volunteers. Not only do we need your assistance with the care of our wildlife patients, volunteers are also an integral part of all aspects of our organization—from caring for the animals to assisting us with outreach events and helping us fundraise. Our volunteers work in collaboration with staff to aid in the rehabilitation and release of the thousands of animals we see every year. Volunteering gives you the opportunity to gain the understanding, ability, and skills needed to care for the animals at our facility.
To become a volunteer at CWC, you must attend a Basic Orientation and make a six-month minimum time commitment. During those six months, you are required to provide one, four-hour shift per week of volunteer commitment. CWC wants to make sure that we have consistency, skill development, and experience in our volunteers. The Volunteer Manager trains the volunteers, and staff and more seasoned volunteers serve as mentors.
There are three main areas in which to volunteer:
Volunteers can spend their time working in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), which takes care of critical patients often injured as a result of negative interactions with humans. In the ICU, volunteers work hands-on with a wide variety of species, including Crows, Hawks, Owls, Songbirds, Opossums, Squirrels, and Rabbits. Along with animal care, the ICU volunteers take care of the diet preparation for the patients at the facility. Volunteers will be taught how to feed our patients and clean enclosures at various stages of rehabilitation. ICU is open 365 days a year.
Volunteering in the Orphan Care Unit (OCU), allows you to care for the orphaned baby wildlife brought to us by the public. In OCU, volunteers work hands-on with a wide variety of babies, including Songbirds, Swallows, Opossums, Woodpeckers, Doves, Pigeons, and Squirrels. Volunteers will be taught how to syringe feed, tube feed, and hand-feed the babies in our care. OCU volunteers prepare formulas and feed diets to OCU patients. The OCU season starts in the Spring and ends in the Fall.
In Marine Mammals (MM), you have the unique opportunity to be part of one of the only organizations in Southern California to offer marine animal response. MM volunteers assist with the rescue of sick, injured, and entangled California Sea Lions and Northern Elephant Seals in Malibu. They also work in our rehabilitation enclosures to help these young animals in preparation for release. MM is physically demanding due to the rescue needs, nature and size of the animals. The in-house MM rehabilitation season starts in January and runs through July. Rescues occur year-round.
To become a volunteer, go onto our website at https://cawildlife.org/ and select the “get involved” tab. Orientations are held on an as-needed basis and occur throughout the year.
Intern Beverly Loo tube-feeds an American Crow. Photo by Heather Patrice Brown
by Beverly Loo, Intern
California Wildlife Center is one of the most unique organizations you will find if you need a safe place to drop off an injured or orphaned animal for rescue and rehabilitation. This former ranger station is home not only to hundreds of patients per week but also to dozens of volunteers, interns, and staff members who work seven days a week, 365 days a year, to give the best care to our wild neighbors. The difference between CWC and other veterinary hospitals is more than just the type of animals that come into our care, although there is no other place you would be able to see a Striped Skunk, Elephant Seal, and Golden Eagle all in one day! To me, the difference is in the team behind the name.
As a second-time intern, I have had the good fortune of working with an amazing group of volunteers, interns, and staff. We have exceptional volunteers who come on their days off to volunteer their time once a week. We have enthusiastic interns who fly from the East Coast just to experience a summer at the Center. And we have dedicated staff who drive from all over Los Angeles to work at this incredibly rewarding job.
My favorite memories (so far!) at California Wildlife Center are exchanging funny stories with my fellow interns while doing (seemingly endless) laundry, learning to tube-feed a Hawk while being carefully instructed by one of our extremely knowledgeable wildlife technicians, and releasing one of our patients back into the wild after a successful rehabilitation. With all these amazing experiences, it is no wonder why I came back for a second summer at CWC! As a fourth-year college student currently applying to vet school, there is no place I’d rather be than here. Thanks to the great people, this has become one of my favorite places ever to work.
By Jennifer Guess, Senior Wildlife Technician
Photos by Jenn Guess
Here at California Wildlife Center (CWC) we see a lot of raptors with severe injuries that require many weeks even months of rehabilitation. The raptor family includes all types of hawks and owls. As the birds heal inside the ICU they do not get the daily exercise they would receive in the wild. Due to most raptors lengthy recuperation period, the vast majority need to be exercised at the end of the rehabilitation process to build up flight muscles before they can be released back into the wild.
When a raptor reaches the point in his recovery plan where he is stable and in good body condition he can be moved into one of our large outside aviaries. Raptors fly many miles every day and it is difficult to provide enough space in an enclosure where a bird can get adequate exercise on his own. One method of exercising raptors is to encourage them to fly from one end of the enclosure to the other. The drawbacks of this method is that it can be stressful on newer patients sharing the large flight aviary, and on patients in nearby flight aviaries. Plus, most birds learn very quickly how to navigate the enclosure with as little exertion as possible.
At CWC we use a method of exercising called creancing. During creancing the raptor is caught up from the outside aviary. A hood is placed over the head and eyes to reduce the stress level of the bird. Leather anklets are attached to the bird’s legs, above the feet. The bird is then transported to a nearby open
field. Leather strips, called jesses, are fed through the anklets and hang down below the bird’s feet. A light weight line with a weighted tube is connected to the jesses.
When everything is ready to go, the hood is removed and the bird is let go and he takes flight. He flies across the field and when he reaches the end of the line the weight in the tube starts to add resistance. As the bird drags the weight, he quickly tires out and lands on the ground.
It is important to do a lot of prep work before creancing a raptor. The weight of the tube must be adjusted depending on the weight of the patient. If the tube is too heavy, it could cause injury to the bird when he reaches the end of the line. If the tube is too light, the bird might be able to fly further than expected and into an obstacle like a nearby tree. The line must also be carefully measured before each creancing session. It should be long enough so the patient can gain lift and propel forward before feeling the weight of the tube but it should not be so long that the patient can reach obstacles.
During the flight, important information is being collected. The majority of our creancing is performed by Malibu resident and longtime CWC volunteer, Diana Mullen. She takes careful note of how far each patient flies, how much lift they are able to obtain, whether the wings are symmetrical during flight, and how quickly the bird tires out. She works very closely with our veterinarian, Dr. Duane Tom, and knows the history of each patient before taking them out for creancing. It is important to not push the patient too hard. Sometimes a single flight is enough for a creancing session. Depending on the patient, a bird might have three or four flights in a session. Each piece of information is carefully recorded in the patient’s record so Dr. Tom can adjust their individual plans. Volunteers are able to assist Diana during these creancing tests and all agree that seeing the raptors soar into the air serves as an excellent reminder of why we do the hard work of rehabilitation for these beautiful animals.
By Luis Vasquez, Seasonal Animal Care Intern
Luis Vasquez
Photo by Alyssa Schlange
If you are blessed with the time and opportunity and have a little voice inside questioning whether you should intern at CWC or not, DO IT. It is incredible how much you will take away. I interned at CWC for 10 weeks this summer and it was wonderful learning about how to care for injured or orphaned animals, the differences between species, and the overall importance of wildlife rehabilitation.
When animals come into CWC, wildlife technicians, with the help of interns, assess the patient’s condition and create a treatment plan. From there, patients are monitored every day. This includes feedings (meal prep, assisted feedings), medicating, and providing behavioral enrichment (to stimulate behaviors they would have in the wild).
As an intern, I had the responsibility of helping determine when the animals showed significant improvements to be moved out of isolated care to larger group enclosures, and finally to be released. For example, one American Crow came in as an orphan during my first week. Throughout the length of my internship, the technicians and I helped with his unfortunate digestive issues, parasites, and cough. He went from isolated care, to a fledge pen, to our fledgling crow aviary. Finally, after 9 weeks, he is a juvenile crow and is in Pelipen [a large flight aviary] with the rest of our orphaned juveniles, where he is strengthening his flight so that he can soon be released.
Personally, this experience has helped me develop a preference for working with wildlife versus domestic animals in the future. In addition, the people you get to work with are awesome. I treasure them. They owed me nothing, yet stood by me in light of my clumsiness, awkwardness, and mishaps in an effort to advance my knowledge of wildlife. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for letting me be part of the Center’s common denominator: assisting in the well-being of California’s wildlife.
