Program:
Professional rehabilitative care
- Budget:
-
$175,000
- Category:
-
Animal-Related
- Population Served:
-
General Public/Unspecified
Program Description:
Fellow Mortals has cared for over 30,000 wild creatures since 1985. Even though many patients are newborns or critically-injured animals, 60-70 percent of those admitted for care are successful rehabilitations resulting in release to the wild or placement as education or foster animals.
Professional rehabilitative care is available 365 days a year at no charge to the public, making it accessible to anyone who finds a wild creature in distress, regardless of their financial situation.
In conjunction with providing professional and compassionate care, nearly 40 permanently-injured wild creatures foster young of their own kind as surrogate parents. These include "Alberta," a great horned owl, and "Naomi," a Canada goose, which serve as behavioral role models for young of their own species,something that is critical for the orphans' survival and breeding success in the wild.
FM also provides educational outreach to the public and offers internships for students and newly-licensed rehabilitators, providing practical experience to accompany formal training.
Fellow Mortals four licensed wildlife rehabilitators have degrees in biology and natural sciences and are paid for only a fraction of the time they give to the patients at the hospital. All staff are paid the same and work up to 80-hour weeks for just $25,000 a year.
Our 2011 success rate of 70% is a testament to how professional care can make a difference to the life of an injured or newborn orphaned creature.
Program Long-Term Success:
Relying solely on donations, Fellow Mortals has been serving wild and human communities without interruption for 25 years. Our program does not receive any tax monies, government grants or funding.
Program Short-Term Success:
Fellow Mortals admits wild creatures seven days a week, including holidays and weekends. If someone cares enough to find help for a wild animal, there is a rehabilitator available to help that creature.
Program Success Monitored by:
Financial support from the public and good working relationships with other non-profit organizations helps us continue to fulfill our mission.
Program Success Examples:
Program:
Wildlife Care Intern Program
- Budget:
-
$25,000
- Category:
-
Education
- Population Served:
-
Young Adults (20-25 years) -- currently not in use
-
General Public/Unspecified
Program Description:
The intern program is offered to recent college graduates in wildlife-related fields and offers them to opportunity to acquire hands-on experience to augment their formal training. Internships run from 3 to 9 months and a stipend is provided along with housing, making this opportunity available to interested young professionals from around the world, regardless of financial situation. Many of FM's former interns continue to volunteer at the hospital, helping with fundraising and animal care. 4-6 internships are awarded every year.
Program Long-Term Success:
Fellow Mortals has provided training to young professionals since 1992. Former interns work in wildlife related fields from California to Nebraska to New Hampshire and abroad.
Program Short-Term Success:
Interns provide the necessary time and skills to help provide care for the hundreds of orphaned birds and mammals admitted to the hospital during the busy spring and summer seasons.
Program Success Monitored by:
Successful rehabiltiation and release of orphans cared for by th interns.
Program Success Examples:
In 2010, the majority of nestling and fledgling songbirds under the care of our primary bird care intern were released to the wild, even though many of them were neonate (new-hatched) or injured when they were admitted for care.
Program:
Public Education (on wildlife)
- Budget:
-
$20,000
- Category:
-
Animal-Related
- Population Served:
-
General Public/Unspecified
Program Description:
Every year, FM provides public education one-on-one and to groups, teaching natural history, giving information on how to prevent injury and orphaning to wildlife and instruction about what to do if a person finds a wild animal that needs help due to injury or orphaning.
Educational materials are developed for these programs and for distribution to the people bringing animals to the hospital, as well as to schools for use in their classrooms.
Sponorships received for this program cover the cost of materials, care of the education birds used in programs and travel expenses.
Program Long-Term Success:
Program Short-Term Success:
Program Success Monitored by:
Program Success Examples: