The CRAS Veterinary Hospital (Wild Animal Rehabilitation Center) in Campo Grande has recorded 2,112 visits since its opening on September 14, 2023. The majority of patients are birds, representing 70% of demand at the unit. Many arrive there as victims of trafficking, accidents and captive breeding.
Right now, a parrot that lived for decades with a family indoors is quarantined in the hospital. Despite being very restless, he is in good clinical condition. It remains under observation because the feathers have a different color than normal. According to veterinarian Jordana Toqueto, inadequate nutrition is one of the main consequences in the case of wild animals bred in captivity.
“They suffer from nutritional deficiencies that can harm the functioning of organs, especially the liver. A parrot can live for 80 years, but as a result, its life expectancy may decrease. Another problem is that most people keep them in small cages, which ends up damaging their wings and feathers,” he says.
Parrots top the list of the most attended patients at the unit. Followed by parrots, opossums, macaws, parakeets, doves, jandaias, tortoises, toucans, bee-te-vis, boas, sparrows, doves, owls, whippoorwills, urutaus, curicacas, hawks, vultures, anteaters, doves and capybaras.
One of the hospital’s first patients is an orphaned wolf cub, run over on the road, brought from Três Lagoas to CRAS by environmental military police the day after the unit opened. Unable to be returned to nature, he lives in the Center and was hospitalized again because he injured one of his paws. He is a “young” wolf who, according to the veterinarians’ assessment, may be stressed and may therefore have caused his own injuries.
Coordinator of CRAS, veterinarian Aline Duarte celebrates the advances in the hospital’s operation, ensuring faster, more targeted assistance and more assertive diagnoses. “Before, we needed to go to other places to do exams such as X-rays, for example. We had to look for universities or other partners, wait for availability, now we have our own, this already speeds up. We were able to concentrate all the service in one place. This has already been a crucial point in defining what to do when the animal arrives here”, he explains.
On average, the Rehabilitation Center receives 2,500 wild animals per year. In 2023 the number jumped to 3,228, 60% recovered. The majority of demand is the result of captures by the Military Environmental Police (PMA), followed by surrender by volunteers and seizures.
“Domesticated animals, for example, already have human characteristics. Many arrive with multiple fractures, including victims of being run over and even macaws with a whiplash injury that lost their wings. Most of the animals we receive are in these conditions. So we won’t close the Based on the situation, the animal already arrives here”, says Aline Duarte.
Still according to her, when the animals arrive as puppies, there is care in their rehabilitation so that they do not become docile, accustomed to human presence. All this work is to try to ensure that at least some of the recovered patients are able to return to nature.
“When we get to the release of these animals, we get the gratification of our work. Knowing that we can recover at least some and return them to nature. When we open a box and this animal flies out, runs away… That’s why we work. To see this moment happening. It’s what motivates us, moves us”, says the site coordinator.
Structure – With 1,153.33 square meters of built area, the CRAS Veterinary Hospital for Wild Animals was named Ayty (pronounced aitã), a name originating from the Tupi-Guarani language which means care, welcome. The Government of Mato Grosso do Sul invested R$6.1 million to build and furnish the site that was already the largest and most modern in the Americas.
Photos and text: Danielly Escher, Communications Government of MS
Tags: hospital returning nature excites people birds majority wild animals treated
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