The most triumphant phase of wildlife rehabilitation is when rehabilitation is complete. It does not matter if the animal is with us a few days or several months, releasing an animal back into its natural habitat is WHY we do what we do. If we do not have release sites, we cannot rehabilitate animals that have nowhere to go when they are ready. It is a struggle some years and, in the past, has prevented us from rehabilitating certain species. Wildlife rescue is not just about our ability to properly care for and make ready each species to return to the wild. It is also about ensuring a safe, secure area for those animals to live the rest of their lives.
A lot of homework goes into choosing a place to release an animal. We must determine if that species naturally thrives in the area. What natural resources are available? Are there homes or businesses nearby? And most important, what is the carrying capacity of the land for that area.
The carrying capacity of the land is the maximum number of individuals of a given species that an area’s resources can sustain indefinitely without significantly depleting or degrading those resources. It is important for us to not reuse any given area multiple times for our release sites because if we do, we risk exceeding the carrying capacity.
If you exceed the carrying capacity of an area the result is the species directly affected will either starve to death or must move to a new area. Moving to a new area is not usually a successful option as most species are territorial and will not allow newcomers to be incorporated into the existing populations.
We are often consulted about wildlife populations in neighborhoods or on private land. One question we are often asked is, “Where did all the wildlife go?”. Folks will notice there are no birds or squirrels or cottontails and wonder why. In one area a neighborhood homeowners association contacted us after their squirrel population disappeared from one season to the next. Their concern was that someone could be harming the squirrels. After a thorough study of the area, we were able to determine that basically the carrying capacity of the area had been used up. There were no more resources to sustain a squirrel population. Residents had been feeding squirrels for at least five years. The abundance of food increased breeding. The increase of breeding put a greater demand on the natural resources and eventually the squirrel population exceeded the carrying capacity of the land. The result? The area could no longer sustain squirrels and they either moved on or died.
As a rescue we can only release on privately owned land with the landowner’s permission. It is unlawful to release wildlife (or pets) in parks, preserves or wildlife management areas. A minimum of 50 acres is required for every 10 animals we release. We never release animals near homes, in neighborhoods, or near businesses. Once used, we give each of our release areas a few seasons to recuperate before we release there again. We must take into consideration that not only will the animals we release need the natural resources there to survive, but so will any offspring they reproduce. If we released in the same area multiple times a year for several years it would be a death sentence for the released animals and the wildlife already inhabiting that area once the natural resources are depleted. We also have to take into consideration what is beyond the area where we are granted permission to release. Eventually our release populations could spill over beyond the acreage we have permission to use. We never want to cause landowners beyond our release area issues with wildlife.
It is important that we only release healthy wildlife to protect all native wildlife that lives where we release.
On a global scale, exceeding the carrying capacity along with habitat destruction can be directly linked to extinction of some species. Our communities, no matter how small, are all part of the bigger picture so we are very careful about where our rehabilitated wildlife is released.
Each year we scout for possible release sites. If you have undeveloped land in SC and are interested in being a release site for us let us know. You can email pthwildlife@gmail.com
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