Injured or Orphaned Wildlife in the Southeast

What to do with injured or orphaned wildlife

We receive many calls throughout the year from concerned public who found injured or orphaned wildlife. Most U.S. Fish and Wildlife Offices in the southeast are not equipped to take in or care for injured or orphaned animals. First, we suggest spending some time from a distance observing the animal. Many young animals may appear abandoned for several reasons, either they are independent at a small size or young age, parents leave young to move about to find food, or for birds if they are learning to fly and might be on the ground. If parents are visiting the animal, their best chance of survival remains being cared for by their parent.

If you have observed the animal and know that it is injured or has been orphaned, please contact a local wildlife rehabilitator, a local veterinary office that can handle wildlife, or your state wildlife agency to help you determine the next steps to take. Most states in the southeast have web pages and lists of individuals that can handle wildlife.

Are you interested in helping rehabilitate wild animals? You can learn more about how to become a licensed wildlife rehabilitator from your state wildlife agency or the National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association.

If you have concerns about purposeful injury of protected species, or a wildlife crime please contact your state wildlife law enforcement or the USFWS Office of Law Enforcement

To Report a Wildlife Crime:

Email: fws_tips@fws.gov

Call: 1- 844-397-8477

Image Details

Additional information is available from State wildlife agencies:

By clicking on the following state links, you are leaving a federal website to enter a non-federal website. The Service is not responsible for the quality of the information posted on these sites.

• Alabama
• Arkansas
• Florida
• Georgia
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Mississippi
• North Carolina
• South Carolina
• Tennessee

Where this page came from

This page was imported from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and, as a work of the United States government, in the public domain; pictures kept only where the Service marks them public domain.

Nobody has written it yet — it is the source material at a new address, which is why search engines are asked to skip it and why no one earns from it. It is up for grabs: take it on, and it is yours to rewrite and to earn from.