YORK, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- For the animals that find themselves at the Center for Wildlife in York, the common theme is injuries caused by humans.
The Center for Wildlife has helped around 38,000 injured and orphaned animals since it was founded in 1986. Most of those animals have been birds that have suffered a traffic related injury according to Kristen Lamb, Center for Wildlife executive director. To try to better serve those animals that come in, Lamb is in the planning stages of building a $3.5 million facility.
"Solve our intern housing issues, or inability to host entire groups of second graders," said Lamb. "And as you saw how tiny our exam room is, interns can't really get a lot of hands on experience.
The animals unfit to be re-released back into the wild often become ambassadors for the center. Traveling to different schools and centers educating the public on how to prevent human related injuries. The goal of the center has never been to keep animals though, but rather to put them back where they belong.
"A red tailed hawk that was here for almost ten months, with bumble foot, so to be able to release her we actually did it on Thanksgiving Day which was like we were all so thankful," said Sonja Ahlberg, medical clinic coordinator. "Was just amazing."
The Center for Wildlife has only five full time employees and as many as 100 volunteers who rotate in through out the year. It cost around $350,000 to operate, relying heavily on donations.