Alaska's Wildlife Rehab Centers: Saving lives, educating the public.

• Author: Orr, Vanessa
• Position: TOURISM

One of the biggest draws for tourists coming to Alaska is the chance to see wildlife in its natural setting. The only problem with this is that sometimes wildlife doesn't want to be seen. In order to provide a way for people to learn more about the state's animals, as well as to give orphaned or injured creatures a second chance, a number of rescue and rehabilitation centers serve the dual mission of saving wildlife while educating the public about their care.

Marine Mammals

The Alaska SeaLife Center, for example, serves as both a research facility and a public aquarium. Now celebrating its twentieth anniversary, the center rescues marine mammals that are orphaned or suffer from injuries.

"Our goal is to release most of the animals that we save," says Brett Long, director of animal programs. He says that the SeaLife Center answers a couple of hundred calls a year, with about thirty of those requiring active response. "We bring about ten to fifteen animals from these calls into the center, and most of them are releasable."

The center has an agreement with the National Marine Fisheries Service to serve Southcentral and also works with a number of stranding agreement holders to transport animals to safety. While most animals can be released after being nursed back to health, some--such as ice seals, sea otter pups less than six months old, and walrus calves less than two years old--are ineligible for release.

"Sea otters and walruses have long maternal dependency periods, so while we can stabilize them, we can't teach them how to forage or groom appropriately," says Long.

"Walruses also bond very quickly to their human caregivers because they are so social, and we can only release animals into the wild that are healthy and not dependent on humans."

When an animal arrives at the Alaska SeaLife Center, it undergoes a health assessment, and a treatment plan is created to deal with malnutrition, dehydration, or any external wounds. "For the first twenty-four to forty eight hours, we work to maintain their body temperature and get them hydrated with an electrolyte solution, maybe incorporating fish formula or milk matrix," says Long. "Most of these animals require twenty-four hour care and need to be fed every two to four hours."

If the animal is thought to be releasable, it is kept away from the public so that it does not become habituated to humans. Nonreleaseable animals can be viewed by the public in the I Sea U, which allows them to learn more...