Wildlife Rehabilitation Certificate
15 credits/30 CEUs

The objective of the Wildlife Rehabilitation program is to provide training in the care of sick, injured or orphaned wildlife, its return to the wild, and public education. Proper husbandry requires knowledge of animal nutrition, medicine, disease, behavior, and population management. While the courses may be taken in any order, we recommend starting with either "Principles of Wildlife Rehabilitation" or "Environmental Education & Outreach".

Certification from ABI requires satisfactory completion of 15 credit hours or a program of five certificate courses. Certification demonstrates mastery of all material in the program.

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Wildlife Rehabilitation Certificate

Principles of Wildlife Rehabilitation
A comprehensive course covering rehabilitation methods, physiology, housing, treatment, and husbandry of terrestrial vertebrate wildlife (mammals, birds, and herps). Nutrition and disease will be reviewed only briefly as these topics are covered in detail in a separate course. Ethics and standards will also be included and will be an integral part of class discussions.

Text: "Practical Wildlife Care" (2nd edition) by Les Stocker

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Wildlife Management
Proper management of wild animals in captivity requires a thorough knowledge of natural history, population management, and habitat management. We will cover these areas with particular emphasis on topics relevant to the release and reintroduction of wildlife, including habitat assessment, carrying capacity and human-wildlife conflict.

Text: TBA

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Animal Nutrition, Health & Disease
This course in animal health will review pathology and the disease process. However, prevention is the key to animal health, and proper nutrition is the cornerstone of that process. Thus, we will review general principles of nutrition and then explore the impact of ecology and life history on nutritional requirements across the animal kingdom.

Text: Optional: "Exotic Animal Medicine for the Veterinary Technician", by B. Ballard & R. Cheek, Blackwell Publishing

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Environmental Education & Outreach
Gone is the day when animal care staff could work in isolation, ignoring the public and leaving educational efforts to others. Today's keepers are a vital part of environmental education. Through keeper talks, shadowing, and formal presentations the animal care staff at nearly all institutions contribute to the public's understanding of animal care and conservation. This course will provide guidance in producing effective talks, presentations and graphics - helping you to effectively reach your audience.

Text: "Conservation Education & Outreach Techniques" by S.K. Jacobson et al.

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Animal Behavior
This course builds an evolutionary framework for understanding why animals exhibit particular patterns of behavior. Animal behavior is investigated through both the ecological processes that have driven the evolution of behavior and the physiological mechanisms that allow behaviors to be performed. Topics covered include genetics and behavior, learning, organization of behavior, communication, mating systems, paternal behavior and cooperation. The principle objective of this course is to understand how natural selection has shaped animal behavior.

Text: "Animal Behavior: an Evolutionary Approach" by J. Alcock (2005)

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