Wildlife Rehabilitation Assistant

Wild Instincts Wildlife Rehabilitation Assistant
Start Date: Nov 1, flexible for the right candidate

Job Summary: Assists Director of Wildlife Rehabilitation and other Advanced Wildlife Rehabilitators in all phases/aspects of wildlife rehabilitation: emergencies, critical care, and daily husbandry of all hospital patients, coordinating rescues, treatment, diet plans, administering medications and fluids, assisting with the training and mentoring of interns and volunteers, education programs, help with facility up-keep, especially relating to wildlife rehabilitation and its functions. Wildlife Rehabilitation Assistant (WRA) reports to Advanced Wildlife Rehabilitators, Director of Wildlife Rehabilitation. This is a full-time, hourly position and includes some holidays, weekends, evenings, events and on-call emergency hours. Spring and summer are particularly demanding seasons with large numbers of admissions and extended workloads during these periods. Hourly pay with 1.5x overtime. Compensation annually approx. $26,500 – $36,700 depending on patient load, housing and experience.

Essential Responsibilities/Duties

• Provide direct animal care such as exams, medical procedures, handling, feeding, and assisting with euthanasia as directed
• Provide indirect animal care such as cleaning/sanitizing enclosures and facilities, monitoring patients’ well-being as directed
• Maintain accurate patient records such as admission information, updating charts and case reports as directed
• Inventory activities such as restocking, monitoring supply levels and alerting supervisor when needed as directed
• Facility care such as enclosure construction &/or maintenance, snow removal, brush removal, other light maintenance as directed
• Assist supervising and training of interns and volunteers in all aspects of wildlife rehabilitation as directed
• Assist in ensuring interns/volunteers follow all safety protocol as directed
• Assist in ensuring interns/volunteers provide complete animal care as directed
• Assist in presenting educational programs
• Assist in developing educational programs
• Assist in fundraising and fundraising development efforts
• Assist in facility maintenance and monitoring as directed
• Ongoing Professional development such as attending conferences, classes, etc.
• Other tasks as assigned

Candidate Requirements

• Possess a Bachelor’s Degree in natural resources, biology sciences or animal-related major
• Have at least one year of experience in wildlife rehabilitation, two years preferred
• Possess or obtain within three months of hire Wisconsin Basic Wildlife Rehabilitator’s license

Candidate Qualifications

• Thrive in a fast-paced and team-oriented environment.
• Experience capturing, handling, and restraining wildlife.
• Knowledge of rehab techniques, protocols, and medical records in a hospital setting.
• Understand or ability to learn basic medical terminology & math, animal physiology and anatomy.
• Effectively communicate information on an individual basis and group situations; strong interpersonal skills for interactions with employees, volunteers, and the public.
• Knowledge of or ability to learn natural history of a wide variety of Wisconsin native wildlife species (appropriate diets/nutrition, behaviors, habitats).
• Great time-management skills with the ability to plan, organize, and multitask.
• Self-motivated, confident and disciplined with excellent work ethic.
• Active interest in continued learning and self-study to evolve with changing rehab practices.
• Passion for wildlife rehabilitation and learning.
• Valid driver’s license and clean driving record.