At least 33 oil spills ranging from simple sheens to 8,000 gallons plagued Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav.  Most of the oil spills were sheens, not slicks, so were of minimal wildlife concern. 

Although not as severe an impact as the eight million gallons spills resulting from the Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, one Hurricane Gustav incident coated numerous brown pelicans. 

Louisiana Wildlife Rehabilitators Association (LAWRA) is hosting a two day Basic Skills Course for new rehabilitators and potential rehabbers at the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine on Skip Bertman Drive here in Baton Rouge. Dr. Javier Nevarez and several experienced rehabbers will teach this hands-on course, covering the basics of sterilization and prep, bottle and tube feedings as well as a wet lab (working with cadavers) and other topics to help you get started in wildlife rehabbing. The fee for this class is $25.00 a person. Anyone ages 13 and up are welcome.

The course times are as follows:

Saturday, September 6th

Sign in - 8a.m. - 9a.m.
Class - 9a.m. - 12p.m.
Lunch
Class resumes - 1p.m. - 3p.m.

Sunday, September 7th

Class - 9a.m. - 12p.m.
Lunch
Class resumes - 1p.m. - 3p.m.

Registration You must be registered for the class no later than Wednesday, September 3rd. To register, you can contact Connie Whitehead at 1-225-683-8980 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or myself. Checks should be made out to LAWRA. If you wish to make a payment prior to the class, please send your payment to: LAWRA, 16925 George O'Neal Lane, Baton Rouge, La. 70817 or you can pay class fees on Saturday, Sept. 6th.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Southeast Regional Spill Response Strike Team and Delta National Wildlife Refuge are continuing to respond to the New Orleans DM 932 oil spill by providing wildlife and contaminants support to the federal, state and private organizations and companies. 

About fifty oiled birds have been observed but are still mobile and have escaped capture.  One oiled bird, a dove, has been captured and is being treated.

Officials from the New Orleans based humane organization, The Humane Society of Louisiana, recently visited Tickfaw State Park, located in Springfield, Louisiana, to present the group's coveted Golden Heart Awards to Dr. Stuart Johnson, Assistant Secretary of the Office of Louisiana State Parks, and Mary Ginn, Director of Human Resources with the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources. 

Dr. Johnson and Ms. Ginn were part of an ad hoc committee which recently rewrote the policies that govern the treatment and handling of wildlife and domestic animals throughout the Louisiana park system.  The new policies ensure that all injured wildlife be captured and treated humanely and turned over to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator and/or released in the wild.  Domesticated animals, such as dogs and cats, will be transported to the nearest animal control agency and/or humane organization.

The America's WETLAND Foundation today launched a three-month-long contest for Louisiana's schoolchildren designed to increase awareness of the importance of saving Louisiana's wetlands. The art, photo, and essay competition, entitled "Keep Your Eye of the Prize," will encourage students across the state to consider the value of the Louisiana's coastal wetlands to their own lives, their state, and their country.

The competition is being coordinated with schools and the LSU AgCenter, sponsor of the Youth Wetlands Week, March 31 to April 4. Louisiana students will learn lessons about Louisiana's wetlands and some will participate in wetland renewal projects at neighboring wetland sites. The 21 Americorps members of the America's WETLAND Conservation Corps will coordinate education and volunteer events statewide, and teachers will be encouraged to incorporate the wetlands into their curriculum.

Hungry orphan songbirds. Owls and hawks with broken wings. Squirrels in nests that fell during stormy weather. Homeless young opossums and raccoons.

All these animals found refuge recently at the Willowbrook Wildlife Center in suburban Chicago. Any of them could have shown up at a local veterinary clinic.

Practitioners should note that laws and regulations govern the possession and rehabilitation of wildlife. The rules differ from state to state and species to species. Legally, a practitioner usually can stabilize a wild animal before locating a rehabilitator or rehabilitation center with the appropriate permits to care for the animal.

But handling wildlife is challenging, even for brief periods. Practitioners can turn to government authorities, wildlife veterinarians, and rehabilitators for guidance on legalities and other considerations.

“Last year, annual surveys conducted by the Audubon Society documented the alarming decline in populations of common birds, which have plummeted 70 percent on average since 1967,” Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne said.  “That specter reminds me that more than 50 years ago, a former U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist named Rachel Carson wrote about a ‘Silent Spring’ without wild birds singing in the trees.  Today, we are bolstering the struggle to ensure that we will never have a Silent Spring.”

•  The National Wildlife Health Center has released an updated Avian Influenza Surveillance of Wild Birds" fact sheet that should be of interest to all Wildlife Rehabilitators. It is available for viewing by clicking here (PDF File).
• The National Wildlife Health Center has updated its "Safety Guidelines For Handling Wild Birds" that employees follow. Wildlife Rehabilitators can view the new guidelines by clicking here (PDF File).