Think Wild Central Oregon

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Planting Week is underway at Crooked River Park! 🌱 Today, a fleet of amazing volunteers caravanned out to transport over a thousand native plants from the nursery to the park. Next up: getting them in the ground! There’s still time to join us for planting Tuesday through Friday. Come help restore native habitat and give these plants a new home along the Crooked River. Sign up at the volunteer link in our bio!

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Back to the wild in time to migrate! Last week, we shared the rescue of an American white pelican found at South Twin Lake tangled in fishing line with a hook embedded in their foot. The pelican was unable to fly or walk when volunteer rescuer Nancy Becker safely captured them and helped get them to Think Wild for care. After treatment, the wounds and significant swelling in the pelican’s leg resolved, and they regained normal mobility. In our outdoor waterfowl enclosure, staff observed the pelican walking, running, preening, and using both wings normally. The pelican was reluctant to eat independently or fly while in care, but with their injuries resolved and no physical deficits identified, our team suspected this behavior was related to the stress and limitations of captivity rather than an inability to fly. With American white pelicans beginning their fall migration south toward coastal California and Mexico, it was important to return this bird to the wild and give them the opportunity to rejoin other migrating pelicans. On September 20, Nancy returned to transport the pelican back to South Twin Lake for release. And we got the confirmation we were hoping for: the pelican took flight! Thank you again to Nancy for the rescue and release transport, Ronda for helping with transport, and our Wildlife Hospital team for getting this bird back where they belong. Fishing line and hooks can cause severe and sometimes fatal injuries to wildlife. Please always pack out fishing gear, and if you find wildlife injured or entangled, call Think Wild’s Wildlife Hotline. #AmericanWhitePelican #MigratoryBirds #WildlifeRehabilitation

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Help Think Wild raise $13,000 to install new laundry machines and upgrade the laundry room to better serve our patients and keep the wildlife hospital and enclosures clean!