Megan Mosby
Executive Director
The Future is in Your Hands…
A baby owl is found, just-hatched, unfortunately parentless and fighting for life. A caring person, just like you, brings that orphaned bird to Liberty Wildlife. Our team of veterinary professionals, all of them volunteers, nuture the animal back to health. Within a few short months, we release a beautiful, healthy Great Horned Owl back into the wilds of Arizona.
It’s not an isolated story. Every day, on average, twenty-two animals are brought to Liberty Wildlife in distress. Every day our tiny, expert staff of eight, along with an army of over 350 volunteers, care for and rehabilitate these animals – from coyotes to condors – returning them to health and eventually to release. Over 150 different species were saved this past year at our new facility at 26th Street and the Rio Salado.
Since moving into our new facility late last year, we’ve seen 20% more animals than the year before. And we continue to add new rehabilitation and education features as we fully grow into our campus. But we need your help.
None of this could happen without the support of concerned citizens, just like you, who take time to care about our native wildlife… and to contribute to their survival. As we approach the end of the year, please consider a gift of support.
Visit libertywildlife.org today, and you can help Arizona’s wildlife return to the wild. Their future is in your hands.
Thank you!
Click here for a short video for your Holiday enjoyment.
Click here to make a gift donation
(Please feel free to share with friends and relatives.)
This Week @ Liberty – December 15, 2017
In this special (read “early!), Christmas edition of TW@L, we’ll update a couple of recent Educational programs, construction of “New Tortoiseville”, surgery on an injured fox, the arrival of a porcupine (did you know they were arboreal? I didn’t.) and more…
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The Education season is in full swing, both at the facility and as out-reach. We also have several new Education volunteers in the pipeline and they will soon be joining the team, taking our ambassador animals out to schools and events as well as presenting them at our public hours on site. Welcome to the team, folks!
(Look for 3 photos)
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A fairly rare – at least for these parts – bird showed up in our care recently. In fact, it took several days and some research to accurately identify this bird. The best guess is that is a rough-legged partridge, a bird who’s distribution map normally only includes Europe and north Africa. There is still room for discussion as none the pictures available for this species seem to perfectly match this bird, but if anyone has a better identification, please comment below! For now, the bird seems lost and is a bit thin so we’ll feed it and keep it safe (after all, it’s a game bird in any case).
(Look for 1 photo)
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Recently a small fox was brought to us presenting a badly injured leg. We don’t know exactly what caused the damage, but it would be consistent with what could be expected from being caught in some sort of leg trap. After a thorough exam, the medical staff decided that amputation was the only option and Dr. Lamb performed the required surgery. The operation was a success and the animal has been recuperating in the care of our own Rebecca Moffat who says the fox is doing well. As the leg heals, it will be determined whether or not it will be a candidate for release. Updates will follow…
(Look for 3 photos)
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Alpo is one of our long lived desert tortoises (so named because he was injured by a dog who tried to use him as a chew toy). A recent x-ray showed he was suffering from a very large bladder stone. This was removed surgically and now he is resting comfortably in a brooder. Since he is under observation, he will not be hibernating this winter so we can monitor his recovery. Apparently, he isn’t the only one of our tortoises so afflicted so the others are also being watched for developments.
(Look for 1 photo)
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Speaking of tortoises, recently a Boy Scout project provided our team of tortoises with new enclosures that mimic our new facility. A gabion wall was constructed around their individual enclosures. These we’re then raised to prevent flooding in the event we ever get rain again, and then provided straw for privacy during winter hibernation. “New Tortoiseville” is a very cool addition to the facility and the Educational group.
(Look for 2 photos)
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Last week we received a lethargic porcupine from a park in Peoria. These interesting animals are usually found in more forested areas as they like to climb trees and eat branches and foliage. Porcupines don’t “shoot” their quills, but the spines are made to come out easily and are structured to stick into whatever is a threat, like an attacking bear or other carnivore. They also have their own antibiotics as a part of their blood so if they fall from a tree (trying to reach the tasty ends of high branches), and are impaled by their own quills, they don’t become infected. This guy is mostly healthy and as soon as we find an appropriate place to release him, he will be returned to the wild (most likely, NOT Peoria!)
(Look for 6 photos)
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Posted by Terry Stevens
Operations Director