At the end of each year, we draw a line and look back at what we have achieved and what we have failed to accomplish.

This year, our Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, which has been running for 17 years, treated 150 injured animals. Our patients were mostly birds, such as white storks (29), common kestrels (14) and seagulls (8), but this year we also treated many orphaned fox cubs.   

As always, the nesting season saw the highest number of patients, with a significant number of chicks fallen out of the nest. These chicks require constant attention and feeding, and thanks to our volunteers we were able to meet this challenge. The number of calls to our emergency number also increased significantly during this period, with around 1,000 calls between May and September alone.

Half of the animals released

Unfortunately, we often have to deal with electrocution cases, which rarely have a successful outcome, but also with many cases in which the wild animal was hit by a car or collided with glass.

Of our 150 patients, 78 recovered and were successfully returned to their natural habitat. We presented some of these cases during the year. In March, we reported about the common buzzard with a broken wing that was declared fit to fly after a month of care. In April it was the turn of the three white storks who had spent the winter with us to fly free. In the same month we released two white-tailed eagles after our colleagues fitted them with satellite devices. We must also remember the day when the skies filled with recovered birds. On that day, 14 birds (10 white storks, 2 common kestrels, a little owl and a long-legged buzzard) were released near Miercurea Nirajului in Mures county. 

In 2023, the 14 european pond turtles, raised in a hatchery built by our colleague Tibor Sos, swam for the first time in their natural habitat.

We could not have succeeded on our own!

We must thank everyone who called our emergency number (we received around 3000 calls in 2023) and tried to help an injured wild animal. Although most of the patients came to us from Mures county, we received animals from all over the country, thanks to animal lovers and the many vets we are in contact with and  who care for the animals until they reach us. We couldn’t have continued our activity without the financial support of our sponsors and those who redirected 3,5% of their income tax to us. Last, but not least, we are extremely grateful to Vets4Wild Veterinary Clinic and especially to Dr. Levente Borka Vitális for his unconditional support to the rehabilitation centre and the animals in need.