WRI e-newsletter
   
July 2016
 
 
 
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NEWS - Wildlife Rehabilitation Ireland
  
WRI Wildlife Courses 2016
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@ Dan Donoher Kildare Animal Fdn
 
(CVE credits apply to veterinary professionals only)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Autumn Events - Courses & Lecture
 
   **REGISTRATION OPEN**
Click HERE for details

WRI will be hosting 4 events over Sept & October
 
1. IWRC Pain & Wound Management Course
(11 CVE credits) 24th Sept
2. IWRC Basic Wildife Rehabilitation Course
(22 CVE credits) 8th & 9th Oct
3. WRI Advanced Wildlife Treatment Course
(11 CVE credits) 25th Sept
4. Lecure on Lead Toxicity in Wildlife
(2.5 CVE credits) 24th Sept

Visit our website www.wri.ie for more details and to register. See you there!
 

With thanks to Meath Co Co for their kind contribution.

 
  
Wildlife Rehabilitation & Teaching Hospital Project
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WRI Wildlife Hospital Project
 
WRI is focusing this year on getting an Irish Wildlife Rehabilitation and Teaching Hospital built. Much of the burden for dealing with wildlife orphans and casualties fall on individuals and small groups within the voluntary sector. The main purpose of the hospital is to provide a sustainable resource, training, and educational facility for veterinary professionals, rehabilitators and the general public. It will also provide opportunities for all the national and international individuals that contact WRI seeking work/volunteering opportunities with wildlife, along with our local community partners.

                     Want to get involved?
We'll be advertising internship positions shortly but in the meantime we're always happy to receive expressions of interest from people who'd like to join our steering group or help in some way.
If you want to help; we can probably 'use' you! Please email us at office@wri.ie

You can find out more about the project by clicking HERE
or
Read what Pete Wedderburn (Pete the vet) had to say in the newspapers about the project HERE
 
 
 
  
Recycling Wildlife
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@ Maurice Flynn -Brown long-eared bat
 
@ akellyphoto.com

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
We need dead bodies!
 
As many of you know, WRI run wildlife courses and conferences on a regular basis. One of the reasons these events are so popular is they provide the opportunity for people to get up close and personal with Ireland's native (dead) wildlife. The 'cadavers' are either road kill, or ones whose injuries were too severe for them to recover from. Although tragic that these animals lost their lives, in death we can learn from them.
With all appropriate licences in place, we collect cadavers to use at these events.
However, we also work with various universities at home and abroad who need these wild animals for research projects. Bats, pine martens and red squirrels are currently being sought from us by these researchers, so if you come across a dead bat, pine marten or red squirrel (without serious external damage), not only do we encourage you record it via the National Biodiversity Data Centre, but we'd appreciate it if you could contact us too at office@wri.ie
 
 
 
  
NEWS - General
  
Dogs Saving Wildlife From Extinction
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@ gingerdogwithajob
Dogs with jobs
 
Dogs around the world are used, not only for assisting humans e.g. guide dogs for the blind, and search and rescue, but also to protect wildlife. In Spain, for example, dogs are being deployed to find poisons to protect endangered wildlife, and the Montana-based Working Dogs for Conservation trains dogs to protect wildlife and wild places. In New Zealand dogs have been used in conservation work since the 1890s, when a conservation-minded citizen named Richard Henry used dogs to find kiwi and kakapo, and then put these threatened birds on what he thought was a pest-free island. Read more HERE

In our 'Wildlife Recycling' piece above, we mentioned research in Ireland. The bats in this case are also being used in conservation work; a Galway ecologist is training his dog to survey windfarms for bat collisions!
 
  
Another NPWS Wildlife Crime Prosecution
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@ Nigel-Mykura
 
@ akellyphoto.com - Yellowhammer, a bird which according to Birdwatch Ireland, will be one of the species most severely hurt by the proposed new law.

Cutting vegetation outside the legislated time frame
 
In July 2016, Patrick Reburn was prosecuted under
Section 40 of the Wildlife Acts, which
restricts the cutting, grubbing, burning or destruction by other means, of vegetation growing on uncultivated land or in hedges or ditches during the nesting and breeding season for birds and wildlife, from 1 March to 31 August.
The provisions in the Heritage Bill 2016 which include proposals for managed hedge cutting and burning at certain times within the existing closed period on a pilot two year basis are not in force yet. See NPWS Hedge Cutting Notice 2016

Great work was done by  David McDonagh, Conservation Ranger, North Midlands Region, National Parks and Wildlife Service.
Convicting people of wildlife crimes is extremely difficult and lots of effort goes into it.

Find the full newspaper article at Wildlife Crime Ireland website:www.wildlifecrime.ie under the 'Case Details' tab on the 'Prosecutions' page.  


 
 
  
RSPB's UK Wildlife Crime Investigations
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RSPB Legal Eagle
 
The Legal Eagle is the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)'s investigations newsletter.

Despite legal protection, offences against wild birds continue and every year the RSPB receives over 500 reports of wild bird crime, with many more incidents reported to the police and other agencies. The RSPB's 'Legal Eagle' is a quarterly newsletter for police Wildlife Crime Officers and others involved in wild bird law enforcement.
 
We reported in the last newsletter on the great work done by NPWS staff - Brian Duffy and Cyril Saich in the convictions of Christopher O'Brien, Kevin and John Crotty who were involved in illegal hunting of raptors. It is good to see their case mentioned in the latest Legal Eagle newsletter
  


 
  
What To Do in a Swift Emergency Situation
 
@ Lynda Huxley - swift chick

Lynda's swifts

Lynda Huxley has been doing conservation work for swifts in County Mayo since 2012 and has organised livestreaming from nest boxes at GMIT in Castlebar https://www.gmit.ie/mayo-campus/swift-live-streaming
Lynda has this advice for anyone who may come across what they believe to be an injured/orphaned swift.
From mid July to mid August the chicks of the Common swift will be fledging.  This is a momentous moment for them because once they leave the nest they are no longer fed by the parents and more importantly they will not land again for 2 to 3 years.
 

 
Swifts have not evolved to take off from the ground which is why their nest sites are situated usually at least 3 metres above ground level.  When they leave the nest they have to be able to get lift from the air currents – a bit like when a hang-glider leaps off a mountain.
Sometimes both adult and young swifts fall to the ground and if this happens they usually cannot take off.  So, if you find a swift on the ground don’t leave it there because if you do it will more than likely be doomed.
What to do if you find a swift :
1)    Check if it has any an injury.
2)    If it does have an injury find out from a vet whether it’s treatable.
3)    If it doesn’t have an injury and looks in good health (bright and alert) ascertain if it’s an adult or a chick.  Chicks have white lines along the edge of their wings (see photo) but adults do not 
4)    If it’s an adult and seems healthy try to release it by going to an open grass area.  Place the bird in the palm of your hand and hold your arm as high as you can with the wind blowing in to the face of the bird.  If it can fly then it will take off of its own accord – do not try to launch/throw it.
5)    If it’s a young bird it may need to be fed for a few days until it reaches the optimum weight and wing length (you will need a licence for this).  For advice on how to care for a swift chick contact Lynda Huxley on 094 9032422  or  083 480 9532 or natureofireland@eircom.net



 
  
 VOLUNTEERING
  
Volunteering - Seal Rescue Ireland
 
© Seal Rescue Ireland

 
Seal Rescue Ireland vols required 
 
Seal Rescue Ireland have an urgent and immediate need for volunteers and interns in July and August. If interested, email your CV and cover letter to sealrescueireland@gmail.com
 
If you are out on beaches, keep an eye out for seal pups in distress. Remember:
Do not put the seal in the water. (Injured, sick & newborn pups are on land for a reason)
Do not disturb them – observe from a distance.
Do not touch pups.
Keep dogs and children away.
If the pup is on its own with no mum in sight; obviously injured; or if unsure please ring the SRI on 087 1955 393
To read about SRI's Internships click HERE
 
 
 
  
Volunteering - A Nigerian Primate Opportunity
 
© Baby-Red-Capped-Mangabey-CERCOPAN
 
 
 
Cercopan short term volunteers required 
 
The place with the highest number of primate species on the entire African continent is an ancient rainforest in South-Eastern Nigeria.
CERCOPAN strives to conserve this forest and to protect its monkeys because both are highly threatened.

A message from Cercopan:
'Short-term working holiday volunteers and Interns gain experience for their own future careers, as well as bringing vital funds to the project and helping to publicise our work. We offer tailored internship programmes to college/university students and individuals seeking experience in order to pursue a career in conservation and can provide complete documentation (reports, references, certificates etc.) outlining performance/experienced gained with us, as required.  The internships are generally based at Rhoko our forest site, but there are also limited opportunities available for interns with veterinary experience at our  Calabar HQ rehabilitation centre.  We also cater to groups and individuals simply wishing to help conservation whilst having a holiday somewhere a little different!
For full details about short term stays with CERCOPAN, please click HERE for more info or contact info@cercopan.org
 
 
  
EDUCATION
 
  
2nd All-Ireland Pine Marten Symposium
 
© akellyphoto.com

 
Pine Marten Symposium

The event will be held on the 14th and 15th October 2016, 20 minutes drive from Dundalk.
This two-day meeting aims to bring together advances in research, practical conservation and management techniques for this enigmatic species.
If you have an interest in pine marten, click HERE
for more information.
 
 
  
Bilingual brochures on plants, butterflies and moths
 
© M. O’Connel
© pixabay.com
 
 
 
AranLIFE brochures

The AranLIFE project seeks to develop and demonstrate the best conservation management practices of local farmers on the designated Natura 2000 sites (protected habitats for flora and fauna of European importance) of the three Aran islands, to overcome some of the challenges of island farming and to improve the conservation status of the designated sites.
The AranLIFE project team is presently working with 68 different farmers on the islands covering over 1000 hectares. Each farm has a farm management plan which outlines a range of work to ensure optimal grazing of the priority habitats of the farm. Some actions focus on education and public awareness and include dissemination of information on the wildlife of the islands. Here are some beautiful, bilingual brochures on Plants, Butterflies and Moths. Birds one coming soon..
 
 
 
  
Etcetera!
 
  
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Feel free to submit any articles, announcements, jobs, events etc that you'd like us to include in one of our e-newsletters. We can't make any promises but we'll do what we can to help.
 
Email your suggestion/comment to office@wri.ie
 
 
 
  
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Contact Us:
 
Wildlife Rehabilitation Ireland
office@wri.ie
 
Irish Wildlife Matters
info@irishwildlifematters.ie
 
 
 
 
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