More Than a Wildlife Hospital

Finca Las Minas s/n 06220 Badajoz EXTREMADURA-Spain www.amus.org.es 0034 924 124 051 info@amus.org.es

Who are we?

AMUS (Accin por el Mundo Sal vaje) is a nati onal, non-governmental organis ation of i ndependent charac ter, whic h has no i deol ogical, poli tical or r eligious affiliations . It was founded in Extr emadura i n 1995 with i ts pri me obj ecti ve bei ng the c ons er vati on of speci es and their natural habitats . T he AMUS staff are specialised in conservati on programmes and the recuperation of wild animals. The devel opment of the organis ati on has been cl os el y li nked with that of its Wil dlife H os pital, whic h, although it has a number of pol yval ent functions s uc h as educ ati on, trai ning and i nvestig ation, c onc entrates most of its wor k i n two mai n areas . Thes e ar e ( 1) the pr ovisi on of medic al as sistance to wild ani mals whi ch are sic k or inj ur ed and ( 2) adopti on and r earing i n capti vi ty pr ogrammes i nvol vi ng s pecies under threat, wi th a vi ew to aug menting wild popul ati ons. Curr entl y the mai n challenge is to keep pac e with the huge numbers of sic k and inj ured ani mals whic h the hospi tal rec ei ves on a dail y basis, wi th the ai m of r eturni ng them to the wild wherever possible.

AMUS projects are generally of an inter-institutional nature, since our preferred method of working is in cooperation with other entities, investigative centres, universities, and experts from various different countries.

Where are we?

We are situated within the Spanish region of Extremadura, in the southern province of Badajoz, near Villafranca de los Barros. The hospital is on a plot of about 1.5 hectares , 4kms outside the village.

Why a wildlife hospital?

This ar ea of uniq ue landsc apes still cons er ves highl y intac t ec os ys tems, whic h have l ong been exting uished elsewhere i n Europe, and thus pr ovi des our l ast r emai ni ng opportunity to s how that the development of human soci eti es c an go hand in hand with the c onser vation of natural res ources and the environment. The Spanis h Imperial Eagle, the Bl ac k Stor k, the Eg yptian Vul tur e and the Gr eat Bustard ar e onl y a few of the s pecies which, almost miraculousl y, can readily be found in this small corner of Europe even today.

Our wildlife is obliged to c onfront multi ple, varied thr eats on a dail y basis and i n most c as es thes e dangers ar e caus ed by the acti ons of modern soci ety. H abi tat c ons er vation is s een as a pri ority but this alone is not enoug h. Elec trical cabl es, circulating traffic, wi nd far ms, di vers e types of infrastr ucture, firear ms, poi sons, barbed wir e, trappi ng and steali ng ar e onl y s ome of the fac tors whic h make wil d s pecies extremel y vulner abl e. Cons equentl y many i ndi viduals, some of whic h ar e endang ered s peci es, find sur vi val without inter venti on i mpossi ble, due to their havi ng been shot at, r un over or pois oned. The most fortunate of thes e end up as pati ents at our hospital.

Extremadura is a region whose biodiversity is unequalled throughout Europe, making it the main destination for birding and wildlife tourism in this part of the world

There is clear justification, a legal obligation and a moral debt to provide assistance by qualified personnel in specialised centres, leading to the recuperation and return to the wild of these damaged creatures.
The c onstr ucti on of the AMU S r ehabilitation facility beg an i n the centr e of Badaj oz provi nc e i n 1995. All Iberian speci es ar e acc epted for treatment, the ai m bei ng to s ubseq uentl y r eturn them to their natural environment. As well as ac ting as a hospi tal , the site provi des a teac hing facility, usi ng indi vi duals which ar e not suitabl e for rei ntr oducti on into the wild. Both adopted indi vi duals and thos e whic h have been rai sed i n capti vity for m part of i nnovati ve programmes to educate schoolchildren and increase public awareness. The AMU S hospi tal admits mor e than a thous and patients annuall y and more than 55% of thes e ar e cured and r eleas ed bac k i nto their natur al habi tat. Profes sional s er vic e is availabl e 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. M os t of the i ndi viduals tr eated are birds, with mammals, reptil es and amphi bians making up the remainder.

What else do we do?

Our wor kload falls into three main areas: conservation, investigation and formation. Cons er vation c overs the tas ks c arried out by the hospi tal in pr ovi ding medic al assis tanc e to the wil d ani mals whic h arri ve on the premis es dail y. We als o c arr y out pr ojec ts and campaig ns i nvol vi ng the c onser vation of par ticul ar speci es, whos e sec ondar y ai m i s to acti vel y invol ve and i mpr ove the awareness of the public . In all of our pr ojects we c onsi der the inclusion of gr oups s uc h as far mers, li vestoc k owners , envir onmental ag ents, for estr y staff etc . to be of pri me i mportance and in fac t we have run s ome s pecific s chemes for them such as Pas tando Biodi versidad. T his was a completel y innovati ve pr ogramme, not s een befor e in Europe, whic h i mplic ated the r ural far mi ng community i n s peci es c ons er vation. We als o wor k on i nternati onal pr ojec ts invol vi ng the re-i ntr oducti on of threatened s pecies, an exampl e being the vulture pr ogramme in the Bal kan mountains. We have a breedi ng in capti vity programme for the M ontagus Harrier and ar e developi ng others for the Bonellis Eagle, Black Vulture and Golden Eagle. In our i nvestigati ve wor k we follow s ome of the indi vi duals liberated by the C entre usi ng radiotrac ki ng. Inter-c ontinental coll abor ati on between Europe and Afric a all ows us to tr ac k the birds whils t on migr ation and dis cover the location of their over wi ntering zones. We are also i nvol ved with medic al progr ammes li nked to cons er vati on in whi ch we i nvestigate the epi demiol og y of diseas es and the i nfluenc e of physic al c hanges on the r esurg ence of particular pathogens . In ter ms of tr aini ng we are a refer ence hos pital in Spain, and i ndeed at a European l evel, and we have for mal agreements with many uni versiti es , wher eby students in the fiel ds of veterinar y medicine and bi olog y can r ec ei ve traini ng and g ain prac tic al experienc e at our facility. We have therefor e, over the years, become a site for obligator y prac tic al tr aini ng for many future professionals.

How are we financed?

Although our sourc es of finance are extr emel y varied, over the l ast few years pri vate fundi ng has bec ome i ncr easingl y impor tant. In fac t, public fundi ng now onl y plays a nomi nal r ole i n ter ms of the functioning of the organisation as a whole. Our wor k, c ampaigns, pr oj ects and programmes ar e all ec onomic all y bac ked by entiti es whic h ar e mostl y pri vate in natur e, as well as by pers onal donati ons. One of our main s ources of income is the prac tic al trai ni ng pr ogrammes that we provi de. T his is s uppl emented by pri vate donati ons and the s ponsori ng of indi vi dual ani mals in the hos pital. In ess enc e, the vi abili ty of our i mportant wor k is now highl y dependent on private support.

Projects which need urgent funding:

SOS Fauna: A specialised collection service forinjured wildlife
One of the hos pitals most i mportant functi ons is the collecti on of inj ured wildlife throughout Badaj oz provi nc e and s ometi mes beyond. We have a s peciall y equi pped van which has the equi pment and materials neces sar y to provide urg ent as sistance at site if necessary. This mobile unit is i n c onstant c ontact wi th the veterinar y team bas ed at the hos pital. T he s er vic e is provided 24/7 throughout the year.

With their feet in the water

A pr ogramme focused on waterfowl. T his pr oject is hal fway to c ompletion. We have cr eated an aq uatic envir onment c onsisti ng of fi ve l agoons where we can acc ommodate and tr eat s peci es s uc h as her ons, stor ks and waders . We need to finis h the installati on in order to be able to assis t thes e types of bird. T his is highl y specialis ed wor k, not l east becaus e thes e s pecies ar e ver y demanding both i n ter ms of environment and treatment.

The Raptor Unit

Our unit has a long histor y of invol vement i n pr ogrammes designed to i mpr ove the vi ability of thr eatened s pecies, vi a the reintroduction of individuals born or reared in captivity. We beg an this type of wor k bac k in 1995 with the M ontagus Harrier and we now have an additional progr amme whereby nocturnal r aptor chic ks are bor n to or adopted and rais ed by adults who ar e unsuitable for rei ntr oduc tion, and then releas ed into the wil d. We would li ke to extend thi s type of intervention to include threatened Iberian raptors. We already have indi vi duals of the followi ng three speci es at the C entre: Bonellis Eagle (Hi eraetus fasciatus), Gol den Eagle ( Aquil a c hr ys aetos) and Blac k Vultur e (Aeg ypi us monac hus). We woul d li ke to finis h buil ding the nec ess ar y livi ng quarters for the programme, whic h we have already half completed

The Hospital
The number of hospi tal admissi ons annuall y c ontinues to rise and i n fact has doubl ed over the pas t fi ve years. Our current logis tics and i nfr astr uctur e make it extremel y di ffic ult to deal with this volume of work. We need to create a larg er facility whic h has the tec hnic al capaci ty for dealing wi th all of thes e admissi ons whilst at the same ti me provi di ng s pace for a greater number of s tudents from Spanish and European universities .

Orphans
From s pringti me until well i nto the s ummer the neo-natal and breeding depar tment l ooks after hundreds of young from a hug e vari ety of speci es. T he maj ority ar e birds but baby foxes , martens, genets , badg ers and hedg ehogs ar e also attended to. This is an extremel y l aborious tas k, invol vi ng 12 hours of wor k dail y, ever y day of the week. It is c arried out by one of the AMUS team plus trained volunteer s.

The medicine of conservation

This is a proj ec t which was started s ome four years ago whic h ai ms to i sol ate and identify the pathogens affec ting birds admi tted to the hos pital, and rel ate thes e to cli matic chang es and the los s or tr ansfor mation of the physic al environment. This i s a c utting-edge inves tigati on whic h ampli fies the value of medici ne i n a global sens e and helps catal ogue di seas es whic h are als o bec oming worl d- wide due to the actions of contemporar y society.

How can you help us?

By adopting an animal in the hospital. By becoming a member of AMUS. By donating material or equipment. By funding some of our projects

For more information please contact: info@amus.org.es Website: www.amus.org.es Sonia Gonzlez, Public Relations Officer