With Southwest Florida growing and natural habitat shrinking, the number of injured animals continues to grow.
And the only one place in Sarasota County where they can be taken: The Wildlife Center of Southwest Florida, in rural Venice.
Since it first opened, the number of animals being brought in has gone up nearly 20-fold.
“Florida’s native wildlife is disappearing at an alarming rate due to loss of habitat, increase use of fertilizers, and the growth of toxic algae,” said Karen Durette, president of the board of directors of the Paul A. & Veronica H. Gross Wildlife Center of Southwest Florida. “Animals that have been displaced are being injured by cars because they are returning to their old habitat.”
Its first year, it rescued 315 animals, she said.
“Last year, we rescued and rehabilitated 5,500 sick, injured or orphaned wildlife,” she noted.
It has a small staff and consulting veterinarians.
“The center does an immense amount of work in healing the sick and injured so they can survive to be put back into the wild,” Durette said. “We won’t release the healed wildlife back into this area. We have volunteer owners with large areas of local Florida land where they will have a better chance of survival.”