The Wildlife Center in Northern New Mexico

Completely committed and highly imaginative.

These words just begin to describe the entire staff at the Wildlife Center, located between Santa Fe, Los Alamos and Taos, approximately two miles south of Española in northern Santa Fe County -- THE place to bring any and all wounded creatures you may find.

For the last 20 years, founder Kathleen Ramsey, DVM, and the endless river of volunteers that flows through this high desert, valley hospital,.have worked together to heal, rehabilitate and (preferably and hopefully) release the thousands of injured, shot, poisoned, electrocuted or starving wildlife that come through their door every year.

Reptile, mammal, bird, raptors -- it doesn't matter. The Wildlife Center is the hospital, ICU, rehab unit and "return-them-to-their-natural-homes" program for them all. Dr. Ramsey has treated creatures such as great horned owls, bald eagles, baby mice, starving bobcats, toads, humming birds -- even javalenas!

Listen -- they have an injured roadrunner in rehab right now. Now think about this -- How do you create a healing environment for a bird that needs to run, yet needs to be treated? Needs time to recover and then be rehabilitated? Needs to be restored to full, natural function so it can survive after being released?

There are no manuals for roadrunner rehab. There are no textbooks, no instructions, no how-to pamphlets. And that's because no one has even tried to do this before, much less actually done it. So, how would YOU go about solving this incredibly challenging dilemma?

Well, the imaginative, passionate and innovative Dr. Ramsey and her staff of volunteers came up with a truly inspired answer to these questions that allows the bird to run freely, yet go nowhere, heal, regain its strength and habits, yet always be entirely controlled and manageable.

And guess what? I'm not telling what the answer is! You'll have to find that out for yourself.

More than 25,000 animals have passed through the Center since 1986 and, each year, more than 1,400 mammals, raptors, songbirds and reptiles are rehabilitated here.

About 55 percent of these dear creatures survive their injuries and rehabilitation so well that they are safe to be released back into their own wild worlds, without tagging, without marking, and without follow-up. They get to go back to living their natural life.

Of the remaining 45 percent, many die almost immediately. Those that are able to survive, such as the bald eagle soaring and hunting, or a bobcat flashing its stubby tail at you as it disappears across a field, help the staff deal with those that do not make it.

In between the wins and the losses, there are a few animals who were so seriously injured or accustomed to people that they can no longer survive in the wild.

Some of these animals become ambassadors of a kind -- they are the centerpiece of 750 educational programs and tours throughout the state, reaching 50,000 adults and children each year. The few remaining others are sent to wild-animal sanctuaries, zoos or other wildlife centers.

For more information, please contact Sharon Lieber at The Center, (505) 753-9505

The Wildlife Center's Public Hours:
Monday-Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Animal Intake Hours:
Monday-Sunday 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

They offer free public tours.
Scheduled guided tours, educational programs and field trips are available for a modest fee.