Respect The Locals!

Make A Difference:

Respect The Locals is Panhandle Wildlife Rescue’s new campaign to help educate and promote a healthy coexistence with our wild neighbors. The Florida Panhandle is the most biodiverse terrestrial environment in the continental United States and its development is only continuing to progress. These two factors don’t bode well for our native wildlife that has been residing here long before us. Our Rehabilitation Center and Trauma Hospital provide a unique atmosphere where we give sick, injured, and orphaned native Florida wildlife another chance at life. Our desire is to help mitigate the anthropogenic impact on them and their habitats along with educating the public on how to respect and enjoy living in this unique and beautiful place that we are lucky enough to call home. Our part of paradise is composed of some of the quickest developing cities and counties in the state of Florida. We pride ourselves in not only providing the most up to date medical care, but also taking part in scientific studies and preach citizen science experiences. We believe that education is the most powerful tool to help empower others to learn about endemic species and when it is necessary to intervene.  Although we receive nearly 80% of our rescue calls from Florida Fish and Wildlife, we do not receive any local, state, or federal funding. We are also often the first responders to zoonotic disease concerns ranging from rabies to highly pathogenic avian influenza and have been at the forefront of research on pathogenic diseases. Going on rescues, providing medical care/surgical procedures, raising orphans, and going on releases is extremely time consuming and expensive. Wildlife Rehabilitation is a labor of love, sometimes thankless, often dangerous, and we do it because we get joy from knowing we are making a difference in the lives of wildlife each and every day. We rely heavily on our volunteers and are always seeking out new ones that may be interested in helping.  We offer classes for schools, groups, state, county, and city officials on safe handling, intervention necessity, safe fishing practices, humane wildlife removal and renesting techniques. As we move forward, we are starting a campaign to build our facility dedicated specifically for wildlife. We are offering sponsorship opportunities for species and enclosures. To schedule a program or sponsor our efforts to create a larger, safer place for our native wildlife please reach out.