ANNUAL REVIEW 2022 9
REHABILITATE
Puffin dives for home after rehab
A puffin rescued from a Northumberland
beach made a great recovery in our care and is
now back on his Farne Island home.
The puffin, rescued by RSPCA Inspector Lucy Green,
was covered in oil and clearly needed expert care.
He was transported more than 200 miles away to our
East Winch Wildlife Centre. The team there washed
him carefully to remove the oil, fed him up with his
favourite sprats and sand eels, and monitored him
closely in the test pool to make sure his feathers were
waterproof. They also nicknamed him Clifford.
After three weeks in their care, Clifford was good to go,
and wildlife casualty volunteers John and Cora took
him back to Northumberland. There, a local boat tour
operator kindly took John, Cora, Lucy and Clifford out
to the famous Farne Island bird colonies. As soon as his
cage was opened, Clifford dived into the sea - clearly
happy to be back where he belonged. Personal touch for Freya
We found a great way to help calm Freya while she recovered
from trauma.
Poor Freya was brought to us after
being hurled out of a fast-moving
vehicle. She was underweight, with
a matted, dirty coat and fleas.
Though Freya did well at our
Leybourne Animal Centre, she was
understandably very anxious after
the trauma and found kennel life
stressful, so we moved her to her
own quiet space, where she could
take her time to recover.
Clever staff found a unique way to
help her really chill. They noticed
she loved nature programmes
on TV - especially, it seemed,
those narrated by Sir David
Attenborough. So they set up a TV
in her space, with Sir David's calm
tones playing quietly on a loop.
It really seemed to help her relax.
It wasn't long before we found Freya
a loving forever home.
Long-term care for orphaned
baby otter
Otter cub Apollo got the best possible care to
help her survive and thrive back in the wild.
Little Apollo was seen following people in a village
street as if she was looking for her mum, who was
nowhere to be seen. RSPCA Inspector Shane Lynn
managed to safely catch Apollo and took her to a vet,
who said she was far too young to be able to survive in
the wild alone.
The RSPCA's Stapeley Grange
Wildlife Centre is one of the
few facilities in the UK that can
provide the care Apollo needed to
survive. There, she was paired with
another orphaned otter to begin a
lengthy rehabilitation programme.
"We're seeing more otters, now that they are making
a comeback in the wild," explains Centre Manager Lee
Stewart. "Their rehabilitation is specialised and needs
facilities to care for them for up to 12 months before
release. Thankfully, we are able to provide that care."