Why habitat restoration is critical to wildlife rescue

Animal rescue helps entire species—not just individual animals 

Animal rescue is an important but often underappreciated element of wildlife conservation. Large-scale traditional conservation campaigns—like those advocating policy changes to protect endangered species and promote sustainable practices—make waves from a distance. But it’s a mistake to overlook the lasting ripples that rescuing individual animals can achieve.  

At IFAW, we believe that every animal matters. Animal rescue honours this belief while offering an immediate and direct solution to a present problem.  

What’s more, saving an animal means securing a vital cog in the well-oiled machine that is an ecosystem. Saving individual animals might seem too small-scale, but entire species depend on the continued equilibrium of an ecosystem. Losing too many animals risks bringing an ecosystem to a halt, especially if those lost are keystone species such as African savannah elephants.  

This is why we’re committed to initiatives that place animals like Jack the elephant at the heart of the solution. Saving the species one individual at a time has an immediate impact. Still, the ongoing success of many IFAW initiatives relies on a coordinated effort that combines animal rescue with community engagement, resource management, habitat conservation, and more. Through this holistic approach, we can be confident that there will be a species left to protect.  

When a species is on the brink of extinction, rescuing individual animals can have a profound impact, as demonstrated by Pilgrim the North Atlantic right whale. Of the approximately 370 remaining North Atlantic right whales in the ocean, Pilgrim is one of only around 70 reproductive females left. Although her first calf did not survive, conservationists remain hopeful that Pilgrim will go on to birth more calves as her mother, Wart, did. Any calves that Pilgrim gives birth to will contribute directly to the recovery and long-term survival of her species. 

Animal rescue is at the heart of what IFAW does 

IFAW’s integrated solution provides rescue and rehabilitation via specialist on-site veterinary treatment for injured koalas. Following intense rehabilitation, the koalas are then ‘soft-released’ to safe, enclosed areas where they can regain strength before returning to the wild. 

On Cape Cod, IFAW’s Dolphin Rescue Center is a one-of-a-kind short-term rehabilitation facility that supports the care, assessment, and eventual re-release of stranded dolphins and porpoises. This facility provides dolphins and porpoises the additional time and recovery often needed to give them the greatest chance for survival back in the wild.  

For orphaned elephant calves, surviving without intervention is nearly impossible. At the Lusaka Elephant Nursery in Zambia, IFAW rescues and rehabilitates orphaned elephants before transferring them to a special release facility in Kafue National Park. There, IFAW helps the young elephants integrate into a wild herd while tracking their movements and monitoring their integration via satellite collars.   

Animals need safe and healthy homes in the wild  

Rescuing animals often means removing them from stressful or unsafe situations. However, when rescue animals are sufficiently rehabilitated and ready to return to the wild, simply returning them to their previous habitats may not be appropriate—especially if habitat loss, fragmentation, or degradation was one of the reasons for their distress or injury. Instead, we need safe and secure habitats to release them back into. This is why habitat restoration is a critical piece of the conservation puzzle.  

Habitat restoration is the practice of recreating a functioning ecosystem through the purposeful rehabilitation of a specific area. Successful habitat restoration requires a deep understanding of species’ life cycles, interactions, and the resources they need to thrive, such as space, shelter, food, and water. 

Habitat conservation methods include reforestation, removing invasive species, cleaning up polluted areas, and reintroducing native plants and animals. When ecosystems that have been degraded, damaged, or destroyed cannot be restored to their original size or condition, conservationists can create ‘wildlife corridors’. These safe passages of land connect open spaces and habitats, allowing species to thrive in and around areas occupied by humans. 

IFAW is currently supporting a range of conservation efforts that rely on habitat restoration to protect animals, people, and the planet.  

One of these initiatives aims to bring one-horned rhinos back to Manas National Park in Assam, India. Conflict in the area led to poaching, deforestation, and habitat fragmentation, nearly wiping out all rhinos there by the 1990s. With the help of local partners, IFAW doubled the protected forest area of Manas and successfully released orphaned rhinos into this restored habitat.  

In New South Wales, Australia, bushfires in 2019 and 2020 caused severe damage to Two Thumbs Wildlife Trust Sanctuary, a haven for birds, bats, and marsupials. IFAW has been working hard to restore the 724-hectare (1,789-acre) property and the habitat it provides for many species by installing nest boxes, dispersing seeds, and planting native grasses and trees. 

By restoring habitats like these, we not only create safe spaces for rescued animals but also support the overall health of our planet. Healthy ecosystems provide essential services like clean air and water, climate regulation, and soil fertility. Therefore, habitat restoration is not just about helping individual animals return to a safe environment—it’s about ensuring the sustainability of entire ecosystems for future generations. 

We’re working to secure and connect critical landscapes to help animals 

Africa’s wildlife faces many threats, including habitat destruction and fragmentation, erratic weather conditions, and growing competition for resources from people and other wildlife sharing the same space.  

To thrive, wild animals need safe routes that allow them to move freely between countries and across borders in search of food, water, mates, shelter, and natural space. This is why habitat connectivity is critical. Linking habitats together with safe passageways means that wild animals can roam freely across their landscapes in search of better conditions and natural resources. Allowing different herds to roam freely and interact with each other also helps avoid the population declines and inbreeding that small, isolated habitats can lead to. In turn, populations become more resilient to environmental changes and stronger in the fight against extinction.  

By letting African savannah elephants lead the way, IFAW is taking advantage of their role as a keystone species in the savannah landscape. By protecting elephants and the landscapes in which they roam, IFAW indirectly protects the wildlife and plants sharing the elephants’ ecosystems. This is because the elephant’s presence in a habitat encourages the presence of other animals.  

As they move through their habitat, elephants dig to create watering holes and promote plant biodiversity by clearing overgrown bushes, spreading seeds, and providing high-quality fertiliser through their faeces. These typical elephant behaviors are crucial for providing food, water, space, and shelter for all kinds of different species. These species include large mammals such as baboons, lions, leopards, giraffes, wildebeests, zebras, and warthogs, bird species such as oxpeckers, ground hornbills, and bee-eaters, and insects like dung beetles and termites.  

Here, we can see that, when given the opportunity to move freely through connected critical landscapes, elephants can make a significant contribution to the restoration and improved biodiversity of their own habitats. This is what makes Room to Roam such a revolutionary conservation initiative and the perfect demonstration of how animal rescue and habitat restoration are inextricably linked.  

Connectivity doesn’t end with just landscapes—marine animals need safe, secure habitats, too. Some ocean habitats are sliced across by shipping lanes, and marine mammals like whales have trouble communicating, navigating, and feeding because of ocean noise pollution. To help maintain a healthy ocean habitat, IFAW’s Blue Speeds initiative aims to enact speed regulations that will slow vessels down to protect marine life. 

Help support IFAW’s efforts to restore habitats and rescue animals 

Animal rescue and habitat restoration are deeply interconnected and essential for the long-term survival of wildlife.  

By rescuing animals and rehabilitating them, we provide immediate relief to individual animals in distress. However, to ensure their continued survival and well-being, we must also restore and connect their natural habitats. Initiatives like IFAW’s Room to Roam illustrate how facilitating wildlife connectivity and protecting keystone species can promote biodiversity and enhance ecosystem health. By supporting IFAW’s efforts to restore habitats and rescue animals, you can help contribute to a sustainable future for all wildlife.