The Agamon Wildlife Rehabilitation Center (AWRC) in Hula Lake - KKL was founded in December 2019 in cooperation with K.K.L. and the academic college Tel Hai. The Center lies in the Hula Lake area and includes an emergency clinic, nursery and three rehabilitation cages for birds. In addition, the Rehabilitation Center serves as a research and future educational center.
Emergency Clinic
The Emergency clinic’s goal is to provide a preliminary response to injured wildlife in the north of Israel (Upper Galilee and Golan). The clinic treats protected wildlife and puts an emphasis on endangered “red” species. Wild animals that arrive for treatment receive preliminary care and stay until they are ready to be returned to the wild or, if needed, are transferred to the wildlife hospital in Ramat Gan (“Safari”) for further procedures.
The clinic currently has all the basic equipment for the immediate treatment for injured wild animals but further requires advanced veterinary equipment to provide the best possible care for incoming patients.
Students from the animal science department in Tel-Hai academic college are offered a professional training program at the AWRC and gain academic points for volunteering at the center. Students submit an essay at the end of their course about a study case they assisted with and learned from.
Our staff is trained for veterinary and wildlife care and undergo professional continuing education every year. We would like to build an exchange program with professionals in the field of wildlife care and rehabilitation, so as to enrich and exchange our knowledge and experience with professionals around the world.
Nursery
During each spring through summer, the AWRC operates a nursery meant to care for nestlings and fledglings who fall from the nest and need feeding and care until maturation. The nursery also admits young orphaned mammals into care. In order to cater the needs of all these young animals, a team of staff and volunteers work around the clock to feed and tend to their needs, sometimes feeding them every 20 minutes. To accomplish this, every season about 20 volunteers from the community (ages 7 to 80) engage in this activity and some star volunteers continue to volunteer year-round assisting with daily routine care of animals and staff activities.
Rehabilitation Aviaries
The rehabilitation aviaries are meant to increase the animals’ chances for survival once they are returned to the wild after their treatment. The AWRC has three rehabilitation aviaries for raptors and songbirds. These aviaries were designed to give birds space to stretch their wings and relearn flight, room to practice hunting and behavior typical of their species, and of course a soft release into the natural surroundings of the Hula Valley.
The aviaries are active throughout the year, depending upon migration and nesting seasons, housed birds are; fledglings which have matured, adult birds who have healed from their injuries and patients from the wildlife hospital in the Safari park which have undergone surgery and require rehabilitation prior to release.
The aviaries are designed to enable “low intensity” of human presence, meaning they have an automated water system, a natural resident prey population and cameras which allow for remote observation. The aviaries are located in a natural setting and enable the peace and quiet the animals require for recuperation before release.
The staff monitors the housed animals on a daily basis to determine which animal is adequate for release and visits the aviaries only to provide supplementary food and required activities before release (such as transmitter placing and weight gain surveillance).
