ANIMA – Hellenic Wildlife Care Association is an association founded in 2005, by people with many years of experience in the care of wild animals in Greece, as well as by veterinarians, biologists, foresters and friends of nature and wildlife. It works with expert scientists who form the Scientific Committee of the organisation.
The main activity of ANIMA is the care and rehabilitation of wild animals in their natural environment. Given that in Greece there is no governmental body dealing with this subject, ANIMA, along with the other organizations involved in the care of wild animals, meets a basic need for the protection and conservation of wildlife in the country.
Taking in wild animals from all over Greece, it cares for over 7,000 birds, mammals and reptiles annually. Among these animals are many rare and endangered wild species.
Care
ANIMA operates the Wildlife Care Center in the Municipality of Saronikos, which has been licensed with the no. ΕΠΕΝ/ ΔΔΔ/54344/1692 decision of 17/5/2023, based on Article 14 of the Joint Ministerial Decision (JMD) of the Deputy Ministers of Environment and Energy — Rural Development and Food (Government Gazette B 4744/8-9-2022), as well as a First Aid Station on 134 Menelaou Street in Kallithea, licensed by the same JMD.
ANIMA works closely with veterinarians and has a permanent specialist veterinarian on staff. X-rays, diagnostic tests and surgical procedures are performed in a fully equipped clinic. The head of ANIMA’s Scientific Committee is Dr. Anastasia Komninou, Associate Professor of Surgery – Medicine of Exotic and Wild Animals at the Department of Veterinary Medicine of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
The treatment is carried out by the experienced staff of ANIMA, who have received special training in managing and treating wild animals, with the assistance of trained volunteers. ANIMA’s staff includes veterinary assistants, biologists, forest protection specialists, etc.
Rehabilitation
Rehabilitating animals in the wild is a process as demanding as treating them or rearing them as chicks.
ANIMA has its own facilities, but also collaborates with other institutions for the rehabilitation of wild animals. More specifically, it works with Alkyoni (Wildlife Care Center in Paros island) to host large aquatic birds, such as pelicans, and other species for which Alkyoni has suitable accommodation. The Attica Zoological Park also has areas not visited by the public for accommodating birds when the need arises.
For the rehabilitation of wild bird chicks, ANIMA has undertaken a series of initiatives that include:
- Working with organic farmers to gradually reintroduce nocturnal predator chicks, which then act as natural predators of rodents.
- Fostering of nocturnal predator chicks by females that cannot be rehabilitated/are disabled.
- The adoption of young lesser kestrels by kestrel families with a small number of young in colonies in the Thessalian plain, in collaboration with NECCA.
- Training of birds of prey a few days before release, in collaboration with experienced trainers and falconers.
Release
In the final stage of release, ANIMA collaborates with a variety of institutions to release wild animals into suitable habitats throughout Greece. Before releasing wild birds, whenever necessary, it works with specialists in:
- Bird ringing (Hellenic Ringing Centre, Hellenic Ornithological Society, Natural History Museum of Crete)
- Obtaining morphometric data and blood/feather samples for research purposes
Rescues
ANIMA carries out rescues whenever required. The most common cases of rescues include:
- Incidents involving injured deer around Parnitha, usually in collaboration with the Parnitha Forestry Department.
- Rescue/ removal of snakes from urban areas, in collaboration with the Police and the Fire Department.
- Rescues and removals of wild animals from buildings, motorways etc.
- Protection of chicks at risk of falling from nests on buildings, e.g. common kestrels.
- Organization of rescue missions in areas affected by natural or man-made disasters, often in collaboration with other institutions and with the participation of trained volunteers and ANIMA’s veterinarian. Especially since 2021, ANIMA has been organizing or participating with Save your Hood in rescue missions following major wildfires and has acquired the necessary expertise and equipment for such incidents.
Consulting and training
ANIMA receives a large number of phone calls and messages every day. One of its main activities is to advise citizens and institutions on cases of injured/orphaned wild animals and it also undertakes the training of groups and institutions. In addition:
- It informs through the means at its disposal about the correct approach and management of incidents of injured/newborn wild animals.
- It gives advice on providing first aid before sending wild animals to a wildlife care center.
- It guides citizens and institutions in cases of locating chicks that can return to their nest or continue to be raised by their parents.
- It trains institutions and citizen groups in wildlife care, but also in specialised topics, e.g. training the Fire Department in reptile identification and handling.
- It trains volunteers and citizens in providing first aid to wild animals.
ANIMA supports organisations that wish to set up a first aid station in their area and cooperate with it.
ANIMA has carried out projects to create a national network of wildlife care volunteers.
Oil spill incidents
ANIMA has a certified trainer for volunteers and volunteer groups in oil spill response, in organizing volunteer groups, assessing the condition of coasts, methods of cleaning coasts, as well as in capturing and providing first aid to oiled wildlife. The training was conducted by leading oil spill response agencies in Europe and the Mediterranean: REMPEC, Cedre, and Sea Alarm.
Interventions for nature - Press Releases
ANIMA participates in the publication of Press Releases, in cooperation with other environmental NGOs, on issues related to the protection and conservation of nature and wildlife.
Addressing threats to wildlife
ANIMA actively participates in the realization of actions and the mobilization of institutions for the protection of wildlife. More specifically:
- It receives and cares for wild birds confiscated from illegal wildlife traffickers during Forestry Department and Federal Game Warden operations, until their full recovery.
- It contributes to addressing incidents of electrocution of wild birds in the national power transmission network by communicating with HEDNO (Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator) to install bases for stork nests or repair them where necessary, and insulating parts of the network that have been shown to cause problems for birds (such as insulating part of the power transmission line in Sounion, Attica, after the mass death of storks).
- It helps to deal with incidents of bird collisions with glass in large infrastructure and buildings, by providing advice to institutions that seek it.
ANIMA has launched the “Paratiro” (Observe) program with the aim of collecting spatial data on injured or dead animals over time, in order to identify infrastructure or other factors that result in the immediate death or injury of wild animals. It hopes that in the future this data can be used to address threats at the local level.
Research
The care of wild animals from all over Greece, which include over 160 different species of birds, mammals and reptiles/amphibians each year, provides many opportunities for collecting primary data/samples that would otherwise be very difficult to collect. Many of these species are protected by Greek and European legislation and/or are endangered.
More specifically, the research areas to which ANIMA contributes are:
- Statistical data collection
ANIMA has been systematically collecting data on the causes of admissions of wild animals since 2011. This, combined with the large number of animals it admits, allows it to produce statistical data on the subject. You can find the data on wildlife care and species here . ANIMA’s statistical data of fifteen years are analyzed and presented in an article published in 2023 in the Journal for Nature Conservation. - Research programs/activities
ANIMA, drawing on its long experience in caring for thousands of wild animals each year, has emerged as an important international producer and disseminator of scientific knowledge on critical issues affecting wildlife, including zoonoses. Its unique access to primary samples allows ANIMA to carry out and support innovative research, with particularly important results published in international scientific journals and presented at global conferences etc.
ANIMA has invested heavily in the field of scientific research into the causes of wildlife morbidity and mortality. It carries out a wide range of laboratory analyses and the emerging results are extremely interesting.
Citizen science
Since 2014, ANIMA has been implementing a citizen science project in which citizens collect data on incidents of injured and dead wildlife all over Greece. Through this project, important data on the causes of immediate death/injury of wild animals in Greece have been collected and are still being collected.