Figure 1. A goose family, shown above, is found living on top of the NIH CC Library.
Have you ever seen an injured animal, including injured wildlife on campus and wondered what you can do to help? The good news is that there is a dedicated team of volunteer veterinarians, technicians and facilities personnel who assist injured wildlife on the NIH Bethesda Campus. This dedicated group of individuals makes up Wildlife Veterinary Volunteers, and are on-call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, collaborating with and receiving assistance from the NIH Police.
Originally, the ORS Division of Veterinary Resources (DVR) fielded most calls for injured wildlife in cooperation with the NIH Police. This was a natural partnership given that DVR collaborates from time to time with the NIH Police Canine Unit and the Police already have an emergency on-call system in place. Over time, the volume of 'wildlife in distress' calls steadily increased, and it became clear that DVR needed to reach out for more support from others on campus. Thus, in 2015, Wildlife Veterinary Volunteers (WVV) was created. To start, volunteers included mainly DVR veterinarians, but has grown to now include veterinarians, technical and facilities staff from DVR, the Clinical Center, NEI, NIAID, NICHD, NHGRI and the Office of Animal Care and Use.
"As an NIH veterinarian, I want to help all animals on campus," says Animal Program Director at NHGRI Dr. Tannia Clark. "The WVV team helps ensure the health and welfare of the wildlife that co-exist with us. We are very fortunate to work on the NIH Bethesda campus, which provides us with the ability to interact closely with nature in this urban setting."
Recent examples of the WVV’s important work on campus include:
- anesthetizing, freeing and providing first-aid to a deer that was stuck in the NIH perimeter fence
- relocating a goose family including, goose (female), gander (father) and goslings (young geese), living on top of the NIH Library in Building 10; leaving the family on the roof of the building would have left the goslings at risk of injury if they were to fall off
- assisting a gravely injured raccoon found walking down Center Drive
- evaluating a scared bunny rabbit cornered in one of the building entrances.
Figure 2.The goose family is relocated from the roof of the building to protect the goslings.
NIH does not have a facility on campus nor available staff to house and provide long-term care to injured animals, however the WVV team works with several wildlife rehabilitation centers and will transport sick or injured animals to a licensed rehabilitation center for specialized care if needed.
Who do you call when you find injured wildlife on the National Institutes of Health Bethesda Campus? Call the NIH Non-Emergency Line at (301) 496- 5685 or 311 (24 hours a day). The Wildlife Veterinary Volunteer on-call will respond quickly!
