Exploring Wellness of Wildlife Carers in New Zealand: A Descriptive Study

The Demography and Practice of Australians Caring for Native Wildlife and the Psychological, Physical and Financial Effects of Rescue, Rehabilitation and Release of Wildlife on the Welfare of Carers

“…However, in the current survey, there were significant gender differences, in particular for the two dominant motivations across all respondents of "having an affinity with animals" and "conserving the environment". The ratio of female:male wildlife carers was 85.6:14.4 in the current study; similar to those obtained in other surveys of wildlife carers, with 79:21 in NSW [39], 77:23 in New Zealand [24] and 87:13 for Australia [15]. However, when describing wildlife carers, Tribe and Brown [15] reported that in 1997 the mean age in Victoria was 44 years and in New York 42 years.…”

“…Both CF and burnout are recognized in other healthcare professionals such as intensive care unit nurses and doctors [20], military medical staff [21], audiologists [22] and mental health practitioners [23], but the possibility of their occurrence in the wildlife rehabilitation sector has not been explored in Australia. A recent survey of wildlife carers in New Zealand [24] concluded that there were significant differences in CF among New Zealand wildlife carers based on their age, gender, financial capacity and years of experience but that, overall, the incidence of CF was considered low, at an estimated 20%. However, the sample size of wildlife carers in that study, undertaken with attendees at the Wildlife Rehabilitators Network of New Zealand Conference held at Massey University in 2016, was small (n = 30), so the results should be viewed with caution.…”

From tigers to axolotls: Why people keep exotic pets in Russia

“…Life‐savers who perceive themselves as those having an altruistic moral motivation could be warned about the potential negative effects of sharing photos of their pets on social media or even walking with such pets in public spaces as they could inadvertently be sending misleading messages to the public and stimulate demand. Perhaps the best solution would be to encourage life‐savers to volunteer with existing rescue centres where they can express their compassion and caring nature (Yeung, White, & Chilvers, 2017), demonstrate their prosocial behaviour (Booth & Curtis, 2014; Thoits & Hewitt, 2001), while also providing higher levels of care for the animals in need. Accidental owners could be recruited as advocates against exotic pet ownership, telling stories that portray their pets as victims and explaining how challenging it is to look after them.…”

“…Understanding and awareness varied across owners and this could lead to different behaviours (Table 3) Life-savers • Concern that the legislation will restrict the ability to save animals • Concern that rescued animals will not be allowed to be kept as pets (Yeung, White, & Chilvers, 2017), demonstrate their prosocial behaviour (Booth & Curtis, 2014;Thoits & Hewitt, 2001), while also providing higher levels of care for the animals in need. Accidental owners could be recruited as advocates against exotic pet ownership, telling stories that portray their pets as victims and explaining how challenging it is to look after them.…”

Compassion Fatigue, Secondary Traumatic Stress, and Vicarious Traumatization: a Qualitative Review and Research Agenda

“…Thus, the types of organizational attributes considered, as well as their operationalization (e.g., in terms of description vs. congruence approaches), varies. Yeung et al 2017). By and large, these studies are correlational in nature, although we present work affect, behaviors, and cognitions as outcomes in our model.…”