Rescuing animals during disasters – Europe
Save human lives by saving animals before, during and after disastersIFAW helps animals in need after storms and floods in France
IFAW helps animals in need after storms and floods in France
December 12, 2023
PIAFS (Protection et Intervention pour les Animaux de la Faune Sauvage) is a wildlife rehabilitation centre that takes in injured wildlife or wild animals in distress. IFAW funds support the daily care of wildlife that was rescued from the storms, and the purchase of two generators. These are essential for maintaining the power supply for freezers, heating pads and lamps – all to ensure the well-being of the rescued animals. Fortunately, some animals were released back to their natural environments earlier than expected.
In the Limousin region, SOS Faune Sauvage is a wildlife rehabilitation centre that takes in and cares for wild European animals in distress, including orphans and victims of road traffic and poaching. It is also the only centre in the region authorised by the French authorities to hold, care for, transport and reintroduce protected birds into their natural environment. IFAW funds are being used to provide for care and food and cover veterinary expenses and electricity and gas expenses at the centre.
Station LPO de l'Île Grande cares for birds and small mammals with the aim to release them back into their natural habitat. IFAW's support will help cover daily care, food, and veterinary expenses for birds such as Northern gannets, common mures, Leach’s storm petrels, and razorbills, and will also cover electricity and gas expenses.
The team at Le Parc Pédagogique Nature du Marais is currently assembling new wooden enclosures. Once these are ready, displaced Ouessant sheep will have a dry place to shelter again. One of the wooden structures will also serve as an infirmary for the park's animals, replacing the previous structure that was damaged by the floods.
We are grateful to the teams at the wildlife rescue centres and other animal organisations that we support, for ensuring that the animals affected by the storms receive the care and attention they need.
To apply for an emergency grant to help animals threatened by this disaster, local associations can send their request to the following address: europedisasters@ifaw.org
IFAW also has information and checklists to help people prepare their pets or help wildlife before and during disasters.
IFAW supports rescue centers caring for wildlife and farm animals
November 17, 2023
Severe weather in France in the past weeks has had a major impact on the lives of people and animals. IFAW is supporting several wildlife rescue centres and other animal organisations in France.
Many seabirds that were exhausted from the strong winds and stranded ashore are being treated at the Centre Vétérinaire de la Faune Sauvage et des Écosystèmes (CVFSE), a veterinary centre for wildlife in Nantes. IFAW is supporting the feeding, care, and veterinary examination and treatment of close to 40 seabirds. Care includes cleaning the cages and washing the animals. The latter is necessary because when the birds strand ashore, they can be impacted by oil traces from former oil spills. Being stressed and exhausted, they also emit droppings and dirty themselves. In addition, IFAW funds cover the costs of water and of electricity, which is necessary to keep the animals warm.
SOS Tortue Bretagne, a turtle and tortoise rescue centre, needed help after wind damaged their animal enclosures. IFAW’s support will be used to purchase 15 greenhouses to shelter 80 tortoises and two larger ones to shelter 280 aquatic turtles. It will take several weeks to months to set up these enclosures and settle all the animals in them.
The impact on farm animals—and the farmers who depend on them for their livelihoods—is also very severe. Many animals already drowned or suffered hypothermia after their enclosures were flooded. At Le Parc Pédagogique Nature du Marais, they home and care for abandoned backyard farm animals. IFAW is providing them a grant to purchase wooden enclosures that will shelter 40 displaced Ouessant sheep.
We are in touch with several other wildlife rescue centres and will share more details when we can.
IFAW prepares to rush emergency aid to help animals impacted by storms in France
November 10, 2023
Storms Céline, Ciaran, and Domingos have hit France successively since the end of October. Record winds ranging from 150 to 207 kilometers per hour were recorded in the West, causing numerous trees to fall and significant destruction. The North faced severe and large floodings because of heavy rainfall - the equivalent of one month of rain fell within one week, causing rivers to burst their banks with water rising up to 5.27 meters high.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been impacted by these storms and floods, having no access to portable water or electricity, and some had to evacuate from their homes. A lot of animals drowned, and many farms were impacted as well, with infrastructure and food storage destroyed. On some farms, where the electricity was out for days, dairy cows could not be milked regularly, causing them to suffer and putting them at risk of death. Also, many sheep were swept away by the flood waters, having no safe place to shelter anymore, suffering injuries, and drowning.
As humanitarian efforts are underway, IFAW is preparing to rush emergency support to wildlife rescue centers and other animal organizations in France.
Since the storms occurred much earlier in the year (late October/early November instead of December), they also affected the peak moment of migratory seabirds on their way to Western Africa. This caused many strandings on Western shores in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as the birds became exhausted from the strong winds. One of these birds is the European storm petrel (Hydrobates pelagicus), which is the smallest seabird in Europe –weighing less than 30 grams, but with an average lifespan of 30 years– and a protected species.
Other wildlife in care at wildlife rescue centers was also impacted. For instance, at a turtle and tortoise rescue center in Bretagne, enormous gusts of wind caused roof sheets to become undone and crash into the center, damaging animal enclosures and other facilities on-site.
With another depression front making its way to Northern France, there are major concerns for additional impact on the people and animals who are already suffering so much in this disaster.
IFAW is committed to help animals in need. Stay tuned for more updates on our response in France.
A northern gannet receiving care at CVFSE, a veterinary center for wildlife and ecosystems in Nantes, after the severe storms that hit France in late October and early November 2023. Photo: © CVFSE
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