Finca Las Minas s/n 06220 Badajoz EXTREMADURA-Spainwww.amus.org.es 0034 924 124 051 info@amus.org.es

More Than a Wildlife Hospital

Who are we?

AMUS projects are generally

of an inter-institutional

nature, since our preferred

method of working is in co-

operation with other entities,

investigative centres,

universities, and experts

from various different

countries.

AMUS (Acción por el Mundo Sal vaje) is a nati onal, non-governmental organisation of i ndependentcharac ter, which has no i deol ogical, poli tical or r eligious affiliations . It was founded in Extr emadura i n 1995with i ts pri me obj ecti ve bei ng the conser vati on of speci es and their natural habitats . T he AMUS staff arespecialised in conservati on programmes and the recuperation of wild animals.

The devel opment of the organisati on has been cl osel y li nked with that of its Wil dlife H ospital, which,although it has a number of pol yval ent functions such as educati on, trai ning and i nvestig ation, concentratesmost of its wor k i n two mai n areas . These ar e ( 1) the pr ovisi on of medical assistance to wild ani mals whi chare sick or inj ur ed and ( 2) adopti on and r earing i n capti vi ty pr ogrammes i nvol vi ng species under threat, wi tha vi ew to aug menting wild popul ati ons. Curr entl y the mai n challenge is to keep pace with the huge numbersof sick and inj ured ani mals which the hospi tal recei ves on a dail y basis, wi th the ai m of r eturni ng them to thewild wherever possible.

Where are we?

We are situated within the Spanish region of Extremadura, in the southern province of Badajoz, near Villafranca de los Barros.

The hospital is on a plot of about 1.5 hectares , 4kms outside the village.

Why a wildlife hospital?

“Extremadura is a region whose

biodiversity is unequalled

throughout Europe, making it the

main destination for birding and

wildlife tourism in this part of the

world”

This ar ea of uniq ue landscapes still conser ves highl y intac t ecosys tems, which have l ong been exting uishedelsewhere i n Europe, and thus pr ovi des our l ast r emai ni ng opportunity to show that the development of humansoci eti es can go hand in hand with the conser vation of natural resources and the environment. The SpanishImperial Eagle, the Bl ack Stor k, the Eg yptian Vul tur e and the Gr eat Bustard ar e onl y a few of the species which,almost miraculousl y, can readily be found in this small corner of Europe even today.

Our wildlife is obliged to confront multi ple, variedthr eats on a dail y basis and i n most cases thesedangers ar e caused by the acti ons of modernsoci ety. H abi tat conser vation is seen as a pri oritybut this alone is not enoug h. Elec trical cabl es,circulating traffic, wi nd far ms, di verse types ofinfrastr ucture, firear ms, poi sons, barbed wir e,trappi ng and steali ng ar e onl y some of thefac tors which make wil d species extremel yvulner abl e. Consequentl y many i ndi viduals,some of which ar e endang ered speci es, findsur vi val without inter venti on i mpossi ble, due totheir havi ng been shot at, r un over or poisoned.The most fortunate of these end up as pati entsat our hospital.

“There is clear justification, a legal obligation and a moral debt

to provide assistance by qualified personnel in specialised

centres, leading to the recuperation and return to the wild of

these damaged creatures.”

The constr ucti on of the AMU S r ehabilitation facilitybeg an i n the centr e of Badaj oz provi nce i n 1995. AllIberian speci es ar e accepted for treatment, the ai mbei ng to subseq uentl y r eturn them to their naturalenvironment.

As well as ac ting as a hospi tal , the site provi des ateaching facility, usi ng indi vi duals which ar e notsuitabl e for rei ntr oducti on into the wild. Both adoptedindi vi duals and those which have been rai sed i ncapti vity for m part of i nnovati ve programmes toeducate schoolchildren and increase public awareness.

The AMU S hospi tal admits mor e than a thousandpatients annuall y and more than 55% of these ar ecured and r eleased back i nto their natur al habi tat.Professional ser vice is availabl e 24 hours a day, 365days a year. M os t of the i ndi viduals tr eated are birds,with mammals, reptil es and amphi bians making up theremainder.

What else do we do?

Our wor kload falls into three main areas:conservation, investigation and formation.

Conser vation covers the tasks carried out bythe hospi tal in pr ovi ding medical assis tance tothe wil d ani mals which arri ve on the premisesdail y. We also carr y out pr ojec ts andcampaig ns i nvol vi ng the conser vation ofpar ticul ar speci es, whose secondar y ai m i s toacti vel y invol ve and i mpr ove the awareness ofthe public . In all of our pr ojects we consi der theinclusion of gr oups such as far mers, li vestockowners , envir onmental ag ents, for estr y staffetc . to be of pri me i mportance and in fac t wehave run some specific schemes for them suchas “Pas tando Biodi versidad”. T his was acompletel y innovati ve pr ogramme, not seenbefor e in Europe, which i mplicated the r uralfar mi ng community i n speci es conser vation.We also wor k on i nternati onal pr ojec ts invol vi ngthe re-i ntr oducti on of threatened species, anexampl e being the vulture pr ogramme in theBal kan mountains. We have a breedi ng incapti vity programme for the M ontagu´s Harrierand ar e developi ng others for the Bonelli´sEagle, Black Vulture and Golden Eagle.

In our i nvestigati ve wor k we follow some of theindi vi duals liberated by the C entre usi ng radio-tracki ng. Inter-continental coll abor ati onbetween Europe and Africa all ows us to tr ackthe birds whils t on migr ation and discover thelocation of their over wi ntering zones. We arealso i nvol ved with medical progr ammes li nkedto conser vati on in whi ch we i nvestigate theepi demiol og y of diseases and the i nfluence ofphysical changes on the r esurg ence ofparticular pathogens .

In ter ms of tr aini ng we are a refer ence hospitalin Spain, and i ndeed at a European l evel, andwe have for mal agreements with manyuni versiti es , wher eby students in the fiel ds ofveterinar y medicine and bi olog y can r ecei vetraini ng and g ain prac tical experience at ourfacility. We have therefor e, over the years,become a site for obligator y prac tical tr aini ngfor many future professionals.

How are we financed?

Although our sources of finance areextr emel y varied, over the l ast few yearspri vate fundi ng has become i ncr easingl yimpor tant. In fac t, public fundi ng now onl yplays a nomi nal r ole i n ter ms of thefunctioning of the organisation as a whole.

Our wor k, campaigns, pr oj ects andprogrammes ar e all economicall y backedby entiti es which ar e mostl y pri vate innatur e, as well as by personal donati ons.One of our main sources of income is theprac tical trai ni ng pr ogrammes that weprovi de. T his is suppl emented by pri vatedonati ons and the sponsori ng of indi vi dualani mals in the hospital. In essence, thevi abili ty of our i mportant wor k is now highl ydependent on private support.

Projects which need urgent funding:SOS Fauna: A specialised collection

service forinjured wildlife

One of the hospital´s most i mportant functi ons is thecollecti on of inj ured wildlife throughout Badaj ozprovi nce and someti mes beyond. We have a speciall yequi pped van which has the equi pment and materialsnecessar y to provide urg ent assistance at site ifnecessary.

This mobile unit is i n constant contact wi th theveterinar y team based at the hospital. T he ser vice isprovided 24/7 throughout the year.

“With their feet in the water”

A pr ogramme focused on waterfowl. T his pr oject ishal fway to completion. We have cr eated an aq uaticenvir onment consisti ng of fi ve l agoons where we canaccommodate and tr eat speci es such as her ons, stor ksand waders . We need to finish the installati on in orderto be able to assis t these types of bird. T his is highl yspecialised wor k, not l east because these species ar ever y demanding both i n ter ms of environment andtreatment.

Orphans

From springti me until well i nto the summer the neo-nataland breeding depar tment l ooks after hundreds of youngfrom a hug e vari ety of speci es. T he maj ority ar e birds butbaby foxes , martens, genets , badg ers and hedg ehogs ar ealso attended to.

This is an extremel y l aborious task, invol vi ng 12 hours ofwor k dail y, ever y day of the week. It is carried out by one ofthe AMUS team plus trained volunteer s.

“The medicine of conservation”

This is a proj ec t which was started some four years agowhich ai ms to i sol ate and identify the pathogens affec tingbirds admi tted to the hospital, and rel ate these to cli maticchang es and the loss or tr ansfor mation of the physicalenvironment.

This i s a cutting-edge inves tigati on which ampli fies the valueof medici ne i n a global sense and helps catal ogue di seaseswhich are also becoming worl d- wide due to the actions ofcontemporar y society.

The Hospital

The number of hospi tal admissi ons annuall y continues torise and i n fact has doubl ed over the pas t fi ve years. Ourcurrent logis tics and i nfr astr uctur e make it extremel y di fficultto deal with this volume of work.

We need to create a larg er facility which has the technicalcapaci ty for dealing wi th all of these admissi ons whilst at thesame ti me provi di ng space for a greater number of s tudentsfrom Spanish and European universities .

The Raptor Unit

Our unit has a long histor y of invol vement i n pr ogrammesdesigned to i mpr ove the vi ability of thr eatened species, vi athe reintroduction of individuals born or reared in captivity.

We beg an this type of wor k back in 1995 with the M ontagu´sHarrier and we now have an additional progr amme wherebynocturnal r aptor chicks are bor n to or adopted and raised byadults who ar e unsuitable for rei ntr oduc tion, and thenreleased into the wil d. We would li ke to extend thi s type ofintervention to include threatened Iberian raptors.

We already have indi vi duals of the followi ng three speci esat the C entre: Bonelli´s Eagle (Hi eraetus fasciatus), Gol denEagle ( Aquil a chr ysaetos) and Black Vultur e (Aeg ypi usmonachus). We woul d li ke to finish buil ding the necessar ylivi ng quarters for the programme, which we have alreadyhalf completed

How can you help us?

� By adopting an animal in the hospital.

� By becoming a member of AMUS.

� By donating material or equipment.

� By funding some of our projects

For more information please contact: info@amus.org.esWebsite: www.amus.org.es

Sonia González, Public Relations Officer