Filippa Hertzberg works as a veterinarian at an animal hospital in Växjö. She says the biggest challenge is needing more than 24 hours in a day. " In addition to time, there is an economic challenge; wildlife rehabilitators work voluntarily, without state or regional support.
There are currently about 40 wildlife rehabilitation facilities in Sweden. The facilities have permits from the county administrative board and animals come to the facilities via landowners or police. Kronoberg County is one of five counties in Sweden that completely lacks such an operation.
I will not be able to start a rehabilitation on my own; it would need to be in collaboration with others.
The other counties without wildlife rehabilitation are Halland, Jönköping, Södermanland, and Västmanland. The counties with the most such operations are Skåne, Västra Götaland, Blekinge, and Gotland. It is unknown why exactly Kronoberg and the other four counties lack wildlife rehabilitation facilities.
Hertzberg's interest in wild animals began when she was a little girl in Malmö and took home a rejected duckling. She has lived in South Africa, where she helped care for wild animals, such as a giraffe calf. In Sweden, the fauna is not as exotic but still includes animals that need help.
What a regular animal hospital can do is help a wild animal with euthanasia. We should be able to do more for them.
Hertzberg says, "What a regular animal hospital can do is help a wild animal with euthanasia. " In Sweden, wildlife rehabilitators have permits from the county administrative board to rehabilitate injured wild animals by receiving them from landowners or via police. Permits can vary for different facilities but often apply to hares, squirrels, hedgehogs, and birds of species that live wild in Sweden.
The work is done voluntarily and without state grants. Animals that belong to the State's wildlife should always be reported to the police. Basic courses for prospective rehabilitators are arranged by KFV's National Association.
Specific steps to establish wildlife rehabilitation in the counties without it remain unclear.