What is Wildlife Rehabilitation?

Wildlife rehabilitation centers take in compromised wildlife from the public and other agencies for assessment and medical care with the goal of releasing back to the wild.

ORC seeks to provide the highest quality care and diagnostics to our patients, with the hopes of returning them back to the wild and breeding populations. With this goal, we also hope to advance the field of wildlife medicine and contribute to the conservation of the species we care for.

Wildlife Hospital

Our wildlife hospital is staffed by a wildlife veterinarian and technicians who specialize in raptor care, as well as our incredibly dedicated team of hospital volunteers. We are a full-service surgical hospital. Diagnostics include full physical exams, x-rays, blood and fecal lab work. We also outsource other diagnostics like testing for rodenticides as well as highly pathogenic avian influenza (bird flu). We take in raptors and other wildlife experiencing a variety of issues from being displaced from their nest to being hit by a car or ingesting poison.

Different species have specific dietary, social and medical protocols. We create treatment plans based on what is best for the individual animal.

Wildlife Hotline

The ORC wildlife hotline fields thousands of calls each year to assist the public and other agencies. Calls can range from arranging transport from one agency to another, giving advice to homeowners who have a wildlife situation, or to assisting those who need to find care for wildlife in distress.

What happens when I bring an animal in?

When an animal enters our facility, they undergo a preliminary exam and other diagnostics that will determine the next best steps. Because of the nature of rehabilitation and the volume of patients we receive, we do not follow up on patient care and outcomes unless directly contacted by the reporting party/member of the public who brought the animal in. If you brought in an animal and would like an update please email us at: Ojairaptorcenter@gmail.com and we will do our best to respond.

After animals have concluded their treatment course, they will undergo a pre-release exam and will be released back to the wild close to where they were found. If they are not able to be released close to where they were found, they are released in habitat specific to their species.

Rehabilitation At A Glance

  • Ojai Raptor Center receives between 800-1200 patients a year.

  • We field thousands of calls and messages between hotline and emails.

  • We service members of the public and other agencies from all over Southern California and beyond.

  • We are one of the few raptor-specific rehabilitation centers in Southern California

  • The average patient costs $20 per day, with many patients costing over $500 to be rehabilitated.

  • The majority of our funding comes from the public and foundations, we do not receive government or state funding.