With your support, Greater Good Charities’ Project Peril Program has been able to grant funding to our partner, TreeHouse Wildlife Center, in Illinois, for their Wildlife Rehabilitation Program.
TreeHouse Wildlife Center provides medical care, shelter, and healthy food to any wild animal in need, whether it is native to Illinois or just migrating through the state. They also have an interactive public education program where they inform communities about the value and basic needs of wildlife as well as the overall impact of humans.
Over the last year, Covid-19 safety protocols restricted visitors from accessing the center and suspended the education component of their programming. This significantly reduced their income that is generated primarily through public donations and educational program fees.
Your donations to Project Peril ensured TreeHouse’s ability to continue to meet the dietary needs of their wildlife patients so that they do not have to limit the number of patients accepted, treated, and cared for.
Waterfowl and shorebirds are very vulnerable to fishing lines, hooks, and sinkers. Fishing litter can create dangerous conditions - helpless birds become entangled in lines and hooks, just like this gull. This can lead to death if the bird can no longer fly or open its beak to eat. Lead sinkers pose a risk when birds accidentally consume them. This usually results in the birds dying from lead poisoning, a slow and tortuous process that can seldom be addressed even through rehabilitation.
Gull with fishhook in nostril, tongue, and leg
Photo © TreeHouse Wildlife Center
One recent patient was this gull who was sent to TreeHouse after it was found with a fishhook in its nare (nostril), tongue, and leg.
TreeHouse’s rehab workers promptly removed the hook and line from the gull, improving its behavior drastically as it quickly became much more active. After spending a short time at TreeHouse’s rehabilitation center, the bird fully recovered from its injuries and was released back into the wild.
Because TreeHouse was able to provide the gull with its proper diet of whole fish, it was able to recover quicker and increased its chances of survival once it was released back to the wild. Since funding became available, their program has successfully rehabilitated 129 animals, and expect to be able to aid hundreds more in coming months.
You can help us continue this live-saving work by donating to Project Peril.
