Raccoons, Opossums and Squirrels OH MY!!!!

Wildlife rehabilitators are a group of special people who dedicate their time, talents and resources to saving wildlife for return back to the environment they belong.  Rehabbers do not receive any funding from the state or local government but rely solely on donations, volunteers and their personal funding to support this life saving work. Wildlife Response rehabbers see over 1000 animals come thru the door of our homes for care each year. Formula and vet care are costly and limit how many we can care for.  With your donations we will be able to continue caring and expanding our ability to care for more wildlife for the community.

Meet Brain! He is one of our Wildlife Ambassadors. He loves traveling to schools and educating the children on why wildlife is important and how to share our lives with them. Brain and his sister (yes Pinky) were brought to us as babies found in a residence planter in Virginia Beach. From the start we knew that Brain could not be released back into the wild with Pinky, due to a condition called Cerebellar Hypoplasia (CH). CH also known as wobbly cat syndrome, effects the part of the brain responsible for coordination and balance. Raccoons are susceptible to both cat and dog diseases. There are only two options in cases like this, euthanasia or educational ambassador. Sadly, most are not a good candidate, but Brain was an exception. We applied and received both USDA and VA permits allowing him to assist us with our mission. Please come and meet him when you see us at local events listed on www.wildliferesponse.org or our Facebook Page www.facebook.com/wildliferesponse.

Wildlife Response, Inc. (WRI) is a non-profit (501(c)(3) organization that was founded in 1992 to care for orphaned and injured wildlife in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia.

Wildlife Response, Inc. is dedicated to the preservation of wildlife through rehabilitation and education. One of the most universal challenges today in the battle to save wild things and wild places is how to bond people to the physical world in a powerful enough way to give them the motivation to want to protect and preserve it. It is especially important in our growing suburban and urban communities to increase significant associations connecting people and nature, especially where natural environments and natural experiences are less and less common. On a local level, the steady arrival of new residents to the Hampton Roads area is having an overwhelming impact on our wildlife and natural environment. As we accommodate this progression, it is essential that people who now call the Hampton Roads area home understand the sensitive balance of human and non-human populations, the effect we have on the natural environment, and the best ways in which we can coexist.

The Wildlife Response & Rehabilitation Center (WRRC)

The Wildlife Response and Rehabilitation Center is projected to be a central location where local citizens, animal control officials and other agencies can drop off wildlife; as well as provide a redistribution center for animals where they can be triaged, then sent to permitted home-based wildlife rehabilitators. When the Center opens this facility will provide a safe recuperation site for wildlife brought there. Most recuperated wildlife will be released offsite in their appropriate habitat.  Another goal of the center is also to launch an expanded educational platform for WRI that will be used to cultivate an understanding of our immediate environment and the wildlife that we cohabitate with. This portion of WRI’s mission will be fulfilled with onsite and offsite programs which may include "wild ambassadors" (animals unable to be returned to the wild but can help spread the message of wildlife conservation). 
 
 The Center is currently under construction and not open to the public.

WRI Hotline 757-543-7000

If you have found injured wildlife, please don't email us! 

Call our Hotline for assistance.

If someone has not responded to your message within an hour, please call back and leave a message in the main mailbox. Messages are checked regularly by volunteers so please be patient. We will contact you as soon as possible.

Thank you for caring about our wild neighbors!