Wildlife care center temporarily not taking new patients

OCONOMOWOC, Wis. - A wildlife care center in southeast Wisconsin is caring for hundreds of animals. It's been an extremely busy season for the staff. But the amount of animals coming into the center is getting to be too much.

At the Wildlife in Need Center in Oconomowoc, workers have been so busy, they had to temporarily stop taking new patients.

"At this time of year it’s our busy season because it’s our baby season," said Lisa Fosco, Director of Animal Care. "It’s not that we have all that many animals comparatively it’s just that we keep getting slammed with large numbers at a time."

Lisa Fosco

With a full capacity of orphaned and injured animals, quality care is something the wildlife center does not want to sacrifice – and the babies require a lot of attention.

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"Some of them need to be fed up to six times a day. Sometimes even more. These are all bottle-fed, syringe fed, they all have species specific formula," said Kim Banach, Executive Director of the Wildlife in Need Center.

Kim Banach

There is one exception – turtles.

"Those populations are really in a bad situation. They’re declining really fast. And this is the time of year where almost all turtles go in to lay their eggs," Fosco said.

Fosco is not sure why there has been such an influx in animal admissions. It could be the weather or climate change. But one thing Fosco does know is the decision to close temporarily was tough.

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"We’re just so busy, and so tired and so much in kind of overdrive that we just get through it, do the job and do the best we can," Fosco said.

The wildlife center will reopen as soon as its patient load lightens up. In the meantime, if you come across an injured animal, contact the DNR.