What's the difference between Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre and Toronto Wildlife Centre?

01 Jul 2016

Have you ever asked yourself that question?  We know that many people often get us confused thinking that we do the same things.  Although there are some things that we do the same – outreach, and environmental awareness. There is also a very big difference.  Think about it this way, the Wye Marsh is a Wildlife EDUCATION Centre and Toronto is a Wildlife REHABILITATION Centre. Those two words make all the difference.

The Wye Marsh focuses our efforts on education, the importance of Species At Risk, Biodiversity, conducting school curriculum based education programs that focus on the environment and how humans can learn to live sustainably (someday – we hope) with our planet. This means that we do not have the skills, expertise, facilities or the permitting that is required to rehabilitate wildlife species.  But Toronto Wildlife Centre, Procyon and Shades of Hope all have those key elements to successfully raise and release orphaned species, or rehabilitate injured species.

We get lots of calls and do our best to provide whatever assistance we can – but it’s important to remember the difference between our facility and the ones that are appropriately equipped to complete the task.

Often we find the best resource is Ontario Wildlife Rescue.  They have a very comprehensive website that offers great tips to determine if the animal you see is REALLY in need of your help – or if it is simply how the mother bunny raises her babies.  It also has an active listing of all currently operating wildlife rehabilitation centres, that way if one unfortunately has to close due to lack of funding or has no more room as their facilities are full Ontario Wildlife Rescue acts as a directory to help connect people with Centres that can give the wildlife species their best shot at survival. 

Ontario Wildlife Rescue can be found online here: www.ontariowildliferescue.ca

Additional Resources:

Shades of Hope:  www.shadesofhope.ca

Toronto Wildlife Centre: www.torontowildlifecentre.com  

Procyon Wildlife Centre:  http://www.procyonwildlife.com