Duluth wildlife rehab center temporarily loses its permit
One of the largest wildlife rehabilitation organizations in the state announced Thursday that it can’t admit any sick, injured or orphaned animals — at least for the time being — because it doesn’t have a required permit from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
Duluth-based Wildwoods posted the news on its website, saying the center is temporarily closed to the public because of “unanticipated changes in staffing” that have affected its permit status with the DNR.
A state permit is required to possess and rehabilitate wildlife, and “currently no one at Wildwoods has a permit,” said Heidi Cyr, who coordinates permits for the DNR’s wildlife rehabilitation program. “Their permittee has left.”
Cyr said she has been working with Wildwoods to get a new permittee, but that fell through because of staffing changes.
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“And so we’re waiting for them to find a new person who will be able to get a permit and take over their rehabilitation program,” Cyr added. “Until they actually have a permit in place, they can’t do wildlife rehabilitation.”
Farzad Farr, who co-founded Wildwoods in 2006, stepped down as executive director last month.
During the transition process, new director Jessica LaBumbard said there were changes in staffing that led to the permitting issue. She declined to provide details, only saying that the center “will be looking to onboard new staff members, and to intensify our training with national and local experts here in Minnesota in wildlife care and rehab.”
LaBumbard stressed that the center’s temporary closure is due to permitting issues, not because of concerns with the care it provided to wildlife.
Wildwoods cared for about 1,800 animals last year, making it one of the busiest wildlife rehab centers in the state. More than a third of its “patients” were songbirds; rabbits made up another 20 percent of animals brought to the facility. Squirrels, water or shore birds, and a variety of other animals, ranging from raptors to porcupines to bats and bear cubs, made up the rest.
The Minnesota DNR has issued permits to 36 wildlife rehabilitators around the state, the majority of which in the Twin Cities area.
The largest is the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Roseville, which saw more than 13,000 animals in 2018, according to Cyr. The University of Minnesota’s Raptor Center admitted about 1,000 raptors and owls, she said. Wild and Free in Garrison, Minn., another larger operator, sees about 600 animals a year.
But most rehabbers around the state are individuals who care for maybe 10 or 20 animals a year, typically out of their homes, said Cyr.
To get a permit, she said, someone first needs to have experience working with wildlife, then has to pass a test, have their facility inspected, and have a veterinary consultant, to assist with anything that requires veterinary care.
Wildwoods started out as a tiny outfit, and still operates out of a converted house. But it’s grown quickly over the past several years.
Animal lovers sometimes drive injured critters from hundreds of miles away, LaBumbard said. “It’s definitely as much for people as it is for animals,” she said.
Wildwoods is asking people to take animals in need of care to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center or Raptor Center in the Twin Cities, or Wild and Free in Garrison.
“Hopefully this will be a short-term issue,” said Cyr. “Winter is one of the slower periods for rehabilitation. Hopefully we’ll be able to resolve this before the spring, when there’s a big rush of animals.”