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Highlands Today

Wildlife Rehab Center Needs Volunteers

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By Douglas  Carman | Highlands Today

Published: February 12, 2008

SEBRING — Few places in Florida nurse wild bald eagles back to health, but David Wrede said that Wrede's Wildlife Rehabilitation Center does that. He fixes their wings as well as owls, hawks and geese that are all native to the area. On the side, he even houses a few peacocks, cougars and a lone coyote.

Although the three bald eagles at Wrede's Wildlife Rehabilitation Center couldn't be released because they had permanent injuries such as a blind right eye in "Thunder's" case, David Wrede said he was looking for volunteers to help some of the 600 to 1,000 other animals that go through the center each year so they can return to the wild.

He and his wife Karen Wrede ran the rehab center at Wilderness Trail south of Sebring for more than 18 years, but David said that they had to slow down because of health problems and they've been focusing mostly on birds. He hoped the volunteers could help him expand the center's efforts with mammals and reptiles.

"If I had more volunteers I could take in 30 percent more animals," he said.

Wrede held an open house Saturday looking for new volunteers, where seven wildlife and animal enthusiasts showed up. Of those seven, Wrede said only one of them committed, while four others are still considering it.

The volunteers were needed not only for animal care but also for cage construction, fundraising and even education, something Cynthia Brown of Sebring said she wanted to do there after the meeting Saturday.

"My hope is to teach the public to protect and preserve (wildlife)," said Brown, an environmental scientist at the Avon Park Air Force Range and the sole new volunteer Wrede referred to. "Wildlife and animals are so vital to the web of life that supports us."

Wrede said he was hoping to also re-open the center to the public if he could get enough help. He added that the center's liability insurance was $4,500, while its annual income of approximately $25,000 remained flat the past 10 years.

Anyone interested in volunteering or donating should call Wrede at 385-2770.

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