About

If you’re an animal lover and enjoy being outdoors, our Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Course will help you get closer to nature while helping our furry, scaled, and feathered friends. Wildlife rehabilitation involves working with wild animals to ensure they are healthy, safe, and not at risk from environmental factors. 

You may have stumbled upon an injured or orphaned animal in your backyard or on a nature hike, or you may live in an area that frequently sees forest fires, oil spills, storms, or deforestation. In all these cases, knowledge of wildlife rehabilitation or wild animal rescue can be crucial to saving an animal’s life. You don’t need any prior veterinary knowledge, as this course will start with the basics and cover a lot of groundwork. You’ll learn about responsible wildlife interaction, animal anatomy, and physiology, how to treat injuries in birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, how to assist in environmental disasters, and how to safely handle, transport and release wildlife.

Whether you just love animals and want to be more involved, or you are looking to volunteer or work in a park, nature reserve or zoo, we’ll equip you with the knowledge and training to prepare you for wildlife rehabilitation.

Recommended Study Time: 40 hours. Completion qualifies you for 40 CPD points. See the Certification section for details.

Requirements

International Open Academy courses are designed for anyone with an interest in learning. No formal qualifications are required to study with us. Our courses are suitable if you want to learn new skills, start a new career, or if you’re already working in a particular industry and wish to upgrade your talents and enhance your resume.

Lessons

Module 1: What Does It Mean To Be A Wildlife Rehabilitator?

• Why being a wildlife rehabilitator is right for you
• A normal day for a wildlife rehabilitator
• How to become a wildlife rehabilitator and get certified
• How to know when NOT to rescue an animal
• You rescued an animal, now what?

Module 2: Animal Physiology, Anatomy, And Health

• Why is it important to understand physiology and anatomy?
• Body systems
• Warm-blooded vs. cold-blooded animals
• Basic physiology and anatomy for birds
• Basic physiology and anatomy for mammals
• Basic physiology and anatomy for reptiles and amphibians
  
• How to assess an animal in distress
  
• Necessary nutrition facts

Module 3: How To Treat Common Injuries

• What are the most common injuries dealt with by wildlife rehabilitators?
• Broken limbs
• Broken wings
• Broken/damaged shells
• Orphaned animals
• Oiled animals
• Basic wound care
• Heat stroke
• Burns
• Fish hook injuries
• Common diseases of wildlife

Module 4: What’s The Best Way To Interact With Animals?

• The difference between interacting with pets and wildlife
• Keeping the wild, WILD!
• How to brainstorm the best enrichment projects for your patient
• How to safely handle and restrain wildlife
• Transporting wildlife for relocation and treatment
  
• Release! How you know when your animal friend is ready to go back to the wild.

Module 5: Spread The Word!

• Why is education and outreach important?
• How you can spread the message
• How to design the right education program for your audience
• Examples of outreach done by wildlife rehabilitators
• Resources for your library
  

Career

Who is this course for?

• Candidates with an interest in working with animals, specifically wild, undomesticated animals
• Anyone interested in a career in wildlife rehabilitation, parks and recreation, zoology, veterinary medicine or animal care
• Those interested in learning more about wild animals, volunteering at wildlife rehabilitation centers, or assisting and fostering animals
• Existing animal care workers in pursuit of promotion