Community Knowledge Centre - Toronto Community Foundation

About this organization

Mission

It is the mission of Toronto Wildlife Centre to help build a healthy community for people and wildlife by raising awareness about urban wildlife issues, offering expert advice about wildlife situations, and providing medical and rehabilitative care to the hundreds of species of sick, injured and orphaned wild animals who call Toronto home, with the ultimate goal of releasing healthy animals back into the wild.

History of Organization

In 1992, a small group of community volunteers became concerned that there was no organization in Toronto to provide rehabilitative care for sick, injured, and orphaned wildlife, and to help wildlife and people co-exist in an increasingly urban environment.

To meet this need, Toronto Wildlife Centre opened its first facility in 1993, and has since become the busiest wildlife centre in Canada. From its first humble 1,300 sq ft home, TWC now operates off two large properties – one for wildlife care and public education, and the other for pre-release outdoor housing of wild patients. Since 1993, over 65,000 wild animals have been admitted for treatment, and the Centre has expanded to a staff of 25+ and a volunteer base of over 200 people.

TWC’s education programs have also grown exponentially; TWC started a full-time wildlife hotline in 1997 to offer our community help with resolving wildlife situations, from advice about how to help animals in need to resolving human-wildlife conflicts humanely.  Education programs now also include media campaigns, community presentations, outreach and organizational training.

Accolades and Accomplishments

• TWC has been open 7 days a week for the last 18 years; we've treated over 65,000 animals from over 270 species and helped countless people.
• TWC was a finalist in the 2009 Green Toronto Awards.
• TWC is frequently in the media.  We are a regular guest on CityTV's "Animal House Calls" and recently were featured on Global TV's "Making a Difference" segment, CTS's "Always Good News" and "Pet Central" on the Pet Network.
• TWC is the beneficiary of Didier restaurant's annual "Spring for Wildife" dinner.
• TWC was the focus of Jamieson Vitamin's "Feel Well, Do Good" Campaign in 2009. 
• TWC's Nursery and Education Kiosk is a permanent part of Ontario Place's new Eco-Learning Centre.
• TWC's expert staff are frequently asked to speak at conferences and consulted or asked to play an advisory role by government, wildlife and conservation organisations, and colleges.

Programs

>Community Education

Wildlife Hotline: Specially trained education staff respond to 30,000 calls per year on TWC’s internationally recognized wildlife hotline, advising the community about a huge diversity of wildlife situations—from natural history to wildlife conflicts to medical emergencies.

Community Education: TWC’s education program promotes healthy human-wildlife relationships through informational websites, media campaigns, presentations and workshops in schools and at local events, and through development of training tools and programs for educators.

Wildlife Rehabilitation: From admission to release, TWC’s skilled wildlife rehabilitation staff provide supportive care for 5000 animals a year representing over 270 different species from the Greater Toronto Area, including many listed as species-at-risk.

Veterinary Hospital: Providing medical care for wildlife requires skill and innovation: repairing a crushed turtle shell, diagnosing lead poisoning in a loon and suturing a laceration on a fox hit by a car is just a day in the life of TWC’s expert veterinary team.

Wildlife Rescue: Climbing trees, wading into rivers, and crawling over ice, TWC's highly skilled rescue staff carry out challenging, life-saving rescues of wildlife every day of the year.

Oil Spill Response: TWC responds to oil spills in and around Toronto communities; trained staff and volunteers provide help with rescue, transport, medical stabilization, specialized washing and recuperative care for affected wildlife.

Community Education

TWC's Community Education program aims to promote healthy human-wildlife relationships through informational websites, media campaigns, and community presentations and workshops.  As part of an effort to empower other organizations to provide high quality education about wildlife to their communities, TWC has also been active in the development of education resources and training workshops for educators.

Funding and Program Partners

The Ontario Trillium Foundation provided a three-year grant to support TWC's initiation of public education campaigns; The Humane Society of the United States and the Helen McCrea Peacock Foundation generously supported the development of our comprehensive wildlife hotline training manual; The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources commissioned the development of hotline training workshops for ministry staff. The Schad Foundation is also a major partner for TWC operations.

Program Impact

TWC's newly released hotline training manual has already sold numerous copies to animal and community service organizations across the GTA. We have had direct contact with more than 1,000 Toronto residents and businesses through our education campaigns, and campaign ads were seen more than 10,000,000 times in the first campaign year alone. TWC also reaches millions through our regular media work. TWC is internationally known for its work in community education, and has been invited by other prominent service organizations to help develop education training programs and literature.

Toronto's Vital Signs® indicator(s) addressed by Program

The Vital Signs Report notes that "the environment, the economy, transportation and the health and well-being of city residents are all vitally linked"

(Toronto's Vital Signs® 2010).

TWC's central mandate is to build healthy communities for people and wildlife, since Toronto's communities are both human and nonhuman, and the well-being of each depends on the other. We also strive to find creative ways to engage residents to take action to get to know and help protect their human-wildlife communities.

Participant Vignette

Vania's first contact with TWC was in 2002, when she walked through our door with an injured squirrel. She called in regularly to check on the squirrel's progress, and happily released him once he had recovered. Later, Vania contacted us again when she noticed a new city development site was home to a number of groundhogs. She suspected nobody would care about such a situation, and was delighted when TWC helped her come up with a plan to humanely encourage the groundhogs to migrate to a neighbouring site prior to construction. She followed through, and passed on new information she had learned to those in the neighbourhood. We were impressed with Vania's commitment to her wild neighbours, and she was impressed with ours! Vania became a passionate supporter of TWC in every way: she donated funds for animals, helped with foster care, signed up to be a volunteer driver, and helped with many TWC projects, but she found her true calling in assisting TWC staff at education events. She loves to connect with people in the community and talk to them about Toronto's wildlife; many have contacted our centre because of Vania's enthusiasm. She makes an invaluable contribution to our education team, and it's made a difference for her, too: "Whenever I come home from volunteering at TWC, my husband always notices I'm happier" she laughs, "Toronto Wildlife Centre has changed my life."