Shanwell Wildlife Care Unit

This picture shows two of our intensive care cages which are equipped with heat lamps and heat pads. These particular sized cages are often used to nurse injured birds of prey.

Our hedgehog cages providing safe and secure accomodation.

These are our emergency seal holding pens. They are equipped with water, drainage, cow mats, heat lamps.

 

These pens allow us to hold injured seal pups for short stay (max 48hrs) until a place can be found at a suitable seal rehabilitation facility. The pens are often used as a transit stop for seal pups which have come from the North of Scotland and are in need of welfare rest stop before continuing there journey next day to a rehab centre.

Our seal team, supervised by our veterinary surgeon, are trained to give rehydration fluids, force feed fish, take temperatures, treat wounds, take bloods, measure blood glucose and administer drugs.

 

This outside area to the south of the unit is the location where  we hope to construct our "Flight to Freedom" raptor rehabilitation aviaries, along with a small grassed area where we will be able to allow some animals such as hedgehogs and ducklings out in enclosures in order to prepare them for eventual release.

Here you see volunteers Steven Bell and David Morrow finishing off the construction of our new offsite seclusion aviary. 

 

This aviary which measures width 6ft, length 12ft and height 6ft, has a 3ft shelter roof, 6ft weldmesh roof panel and 3ft weldmesh roof release hatch. The open roof allows the bird to see the sky and experience the many different weather conditions and noises.

 

Inside the aviary we have fitted tree branch perches at a variety of heights, a large moulded pool equipped with an external water fill pipe allows the bird to bathe, and two feeding hatch / shelves let us keep the human contact to an absolute minimum.