European Oiled Wildlife Responders meet in Hamburg

In March Wildtierstation Hamburg hosted the European Oiled Wildlife Responders’ meeting, which was attended by Sea Alarm, the RSPCA, ProBird and Wildlife Rescue Centre Ostend. A highlight of the meeting was a tour of the new rehabilitation facility outside of Hamburg, which Wildtierstation Hamburg is in the process of refurbishing.

The oiled wildlife responders group, which meets twice yearly, approved the content of a joint protocol/response manual for oiled bird rehabilitation, an important milestone in the development of a European standard for care of oil affected birds during a spill response. The document is now in the design process and is expected to be made available in the coming months.

Next steps for the group include developing similar cooperative guidelines for management of international oiled wildlife response within Europe where these organisations may be called on by local NGOs, oil companies or various authorities to aid in wildlife and creating training courses for hands-on wildlife responders.