Donations - Who to Help?
All wildlife rehabilitators need money to pay for their rescue and rehabilitation efforts. It is far more expensive that you might imagine, with some orphaned animals costing over $1,000 to raise. But with hundreds of organisations, caring for tens of thousands of animals between them - how do you decide who most deserves your donation?

Whether they are called wildlife hospitals, rehabilitation centres, shelters, associations or networks; wildlife rehabilitation groups all undertake the same role - which is the rescue, rehabilitation and release of Australian native animals. You hear stories of donations to charities being wasted, or being spent on administration, but this seldom happens with Australian wildlife carers. Almost all wildlife carers in Australia are unpaid volunteers, and receive no government funding of any kind.

So if they are all worthy - who should you choose to give your money to? Clearly this is a personal and subjective issue - but we'd like to offer some food for thought:

• Who looks after wildlife in your local area? Don't assume that it is one of the well-known wildlife care groups. 

• Look for established groups and individuals who have shown a long-term commitment. They generally take in many "patients", and are more likely to continue to operate

• Smaller organisations and individual carers may not be as well known as their bigger counterparts, but they are no less deserving.

• Care groups / hospitals that are associated with zoos or tourist attractions may have independent sources of income. They tend to do a great job, and often assist other carers in the local area.

All genuine wildlife carers deserve your support, and we would never dissuade you from donating to any of them.

We recommend checking to see which wildlife carers provide services in the area in which you live.  Use the search capabilities of this website, or check with your local council or veterinarians to find out who operates in your area. This way, you can help to make sure that when one of our unique native animals is in need, there is someone nearby to help.