Veterinary surgeons in general practice are frequently presented with injured or orphaned animals by wildlife rescue centres, members of the public or police officers. Following treatment, many of these animals are released to the wild. Despite the large numbers of wildlife casualties rehabilitated in this way there are few published data detailing species, numbers treated, quality of care provided and outcome following release. There is also ongoing debate regarding the welfare and conservation benefits of such human intervention. This article reviews the available published evidence on wildlife rehabilitation and offers recommendations on future policy.

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Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) are considered one of the most significant vertebrate pests globally, because of their impacts on human and animal health. There are legal and moral obligations to minimise the impacts of wildlife management on animal welfare, yet there are few data on the relative welfare impacts of rat trapping and baiting methods used in the UK with which to inform management decisions. Two stakeholder workshops were facilitated to assess the relative welfare impacts of six lethal rat management methods using a welfare assessment model. Fifteen stakeholders including experts in wildlife management, rodent management, rodent biology, animal welfare science, and veterinary science and medicine, participated. The greatest welfare impacts were associated with three baiting methods, anticoagulants, cholecalciferol and non-toxic cellulose baits (severe to extreme impact for days), and with capture on a glue trap (extreme for hours) with concussive killing (mild to moderate for seconds to minutes); these methods should be considered last resorts from a welfare perspective. Lower impacts were associated with cage trapping (moderate to severe for hours) with concussive killing (moderate for minutes). The impact of snap trapping was highly variable (no impact to extreme for seconds to minutes). Snap traps should be regulated and tested to identify those that cause rapid unconsciousness; such traps might represent the most welfare-friendly option assessed for killing rats. Our results can be used to integrate consideration of rat welfare alongside other factors, including cost, efficacy, safety, non-target animal welfare and public acceptability when selecting management methods. We also highlight ways of reducing welfare impacts and areas where more data are needed.

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However, no viral enteropathogens have been confirmed in Great Britain or throughout the range of the Eurasian badger. Histopathological findings suggestive of parvovirus enteritis have been seen in cases of diarrhoea in captive, hand-reared badgers. However, the presence of parvovirus has never been confirmed by laboratory means in these cases (Mullineaux 2003). Parvovirus infection has also been suspected as the cause of myocarditis in a Eurasian badger (Burtscher and Url 2007). This again was based only on histological findings, as there was no parvoviral antibody or antigen confirmation. This communication describes parvovirus infection causing enteric pathology associated with acute diarrhoea and death in badger cubs. Five badger cubs, about 20 weeks of age, at a wildlife centre died with acute severe diarrhoea in a two-week period despite therapy and supportive treatment. Initially, three carcases were submitted to the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA)-Langford for postmortem examination. These had been at the wildlife centre between one and two and a half months. Two were from Somerset and the most recent arrival was from Essex. These were all in fair bodily condition but were dehydrated. All had empty stomachs and in one cub the small and large intestine were also empty. In one of the others moderate amounts of watery yellow contents were present in both the small and large intestine. In the third the contents were pale, red and watery to pasty distally. Capillaria eggs were seen in a rectal faecal sample of

Data from wildlife rehabilitation centers (WRCs) can provide on-the-ground records of causes of raptor morbidity and mortality, allowing threat patterns to be explored throughout time and space. We provide an overview of native raptor admissions to four WRCs in England and Wales, quantifying the main causes of morbidity and mortality, trends over time, and associations between threats and urbanization between 2001 and 2019. Throughout the study period, 14 raptor species were admitted totalling 3305 admission records. The Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo; 31%) and Tawny Owl (Strix aluco; 29%) were most numerous. Relative to the proportion of breeding individuals in Britain and Ireland, Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus), Little Owls (Athene noctua), and Western Barn Owls (Tyto alba) were over-represented in the admissions data by 103%, 73%, and 69%, respectively. Contrastingly Northern Long-eared Owls (Asio otus), Western Marsh Harriers (Circus aeruginosus), and Merlin (Falco columbarius) were under-represented by 187%, 163%, and 126%, respectively. Across all species, vehicle collisions were the most frequent anthropogenic admission cause (22%), and orphaned young birds (10%) were most frequent natural cause. Mortality rate was highest for infection/parasite admissions (90%), whereas orphaned birds experienced lowest mortality rates (16%). For one WRC, there was a decline in admissions over the study period. Red Kite (Milvus milvus) admissions increased over time, whereas Common Buzzard and Common Kestrel admissions declined. There were significant declines in the relative proportion of persecution and metabolic admissions and an increase in orphaned birds. Urban areas were positively associated with persecution, building collisions, and unknown trauma admissions, whereas vehicle collisions were associated with more rural areas. Many threats persist for raptors in England and Wales, however, have not changed substantially over the past two decades. Threats associated with urban areas, such as building collisions, may increase over time in line with human population growth and subsequent urban expansion.