Wildlife Husbandry Coordinator

The wildlife husbandry coordinator works closely with the hospital team, volunteer coordinator and hospital coordinator and reports to the wildlife rehabilitation manager to work in a team environment for the daily hospital and rehabilitation operation; overseeing the husbandry and rehabilitation of wildlife; supervision of volunteers on shift in the hospital and in homecare locations; public interaction and communication to aid with wildlife questions and concerns as well as assist with hospital intakes when needed.

The priorities for this position are to 1) strengthen the wildlife rehabilitation program, and; 2) save the lives of injured and orphaned wild animals in our care by ensuring that husbandry and rehabilitation of all wildlife in our care is executed to the highest achievable level with the assistance of interns and volunteers in hospital and in homecare locations; 3) have strong communication and teamwork skills; 4) have the ability to work professionally in a high stress environment.

The wildlife husbandry coordinator:

• Is responsible for managing and supervising the husbandry and progression of all animals, especially neonate/juvenile birds during peak season, with an emphasis on altricial songbirds and corvids, with the goal of releasing them to the wild.
• Maintain up-to-date husbandry protocols within the hospital and in homecare locations.
• Work to assist in placement and movement of wildlife in the homecare system.
• Works in cooperation with other rehabilitation staff and volunteers to provide quality care for wild animal patients, meet department goals, and further the museum’s mission of inspiring and connecting people with wildlife in order to make the world we share healthier and safer for all of us.
• Needs to be conservation motivated and be able to see the bigger picture.
• Ensures that excellent customer service—to volunteers, coworkers, the public, and the patients—is consistently administered.

Primary Responsibilities

• Manage the husbandry of all wildlife patients that enter the hospital, including enclosure set-up, daily hygienic maintenance, and diets. This will include coordinating with the medical technicians, volunteers, interns, and externs and delegating tasks as needed. Ensure safety and customer service in the hospital and in satellite locations.
• Provide on-site training and supervision of volunteers, assistants, interns and externs in wildlife husbandry including hand-feeding, force-feeding, maintaining biosecurity and hygiene, monitoring development and noting abnormalities, making nests, setting up enclosures with diets and enrichment appropriate to the species age and natural history. This includes development of training curricula, teaching continuing education classes.
• Track development through assessment of weights and body condition, feather/fur development and behavior and enter information into WRMD database.
• Maintain the system of progression of the animals from neonate through release to ensure proper movement into graduating housing as required for proper development.
• Alert medical staff to abnormal conditions in development and/or behavior of any bird(s) under neonate care and assist in developing a plan to correct any problems.
• Manage and maintain onsite mouse colony that include housing and care protocols, maintaining colony records to track litters of breeding colony and feeder colony and utilize nursing mothers as surrogates to rodent wildlife as needed. Must be comfortable in culling and humane euthanasia procedures.
• May assist medical staff in patient triage exams, procedures and treatments.
• Coordinate and document the transition of patient housing and feeding schedules/weaning during development milestones.
• Ensure timely feedings of appropriate diet and administration of medications.
• Monitor quantity and quality of hand-feeding diets and ensure appropriate volumes are available for use. Notify the Hospital Coordinator when ingredients are running low.
• Assist the hospital coordinator in maintaining adequate supply of husbandry and food materials. Some travel is required so a valid California driver license is required.
• May assist with coordination of onsite and offsite construction, maintenance and repair of enclosures.
• Coordinate distribution of food resources to homecare providers
• Coordinate animal transfers in the hospital and in homecare locations to make sure animals graduate between enclosures and move through the system appropriately.
• Maintain cleanliness of neonatal areas, including setting up the Bird Room for the spring/summer season and coordinating the full clean of the room at the end of the baby season and creating a list of repairs of enclosures to be done during the winter.
• Aid the hospital coordinator in maintaining enclosure inventory.
• Cooperatively manage the flow of cases through the day; assist in managing volunteer teams to maximize care and ensure all work is completed satisfactorily; ensure that charts and records are accurately updated as needed.
• Oversee the onboarding of new homecare volunteers including collecting and maintaining all documentation and inspections records.
• Track weekly homecare reports and update patient records accordingly.
• Participate in creating and updating husbandry and clinical protocols.
• Coordinate and maintain inspections of homecare locations.
• Public interaction and education including assisting with animal intake, presenting at community outreach programs, and hospital/museum public programs. Work with the Education department to make sure that all messaging reflects Lindsay’s mission. Work with Hospital Manager to set goals to adhere to state wildlife regulations by creating objectives and protocols on-site and with homecare volunteers.

Qualifications

• Must work well with staff, volunteers and the general public. Be a good team player.
• Minimum of two years’ experience working in a wildlife rehabilitation program.
• Bachelor’s or Associate’s degree in Biology, Zoology, Animal Sciences or related degree desired, but not required. (Will substitute training and experience that provides the required knowledge, skills, and abilities).
• Knowledge of natural history and husbandry for native California wildlife.
• Completed IWRC or NWRA basic skills course desired, but not required.
• Experience working with volunteers with a positive, cooperative atmosphere.
• Must be able to work weekends, some evenings and some holidays.
• Be able to support and comply with existing Lindsay Wildlife Experience policies.
• Valid California drivers license or ability to obtain one within 30 days.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS AND WORK ENVIRONMENT

• Have empathy, compassion, patience, and be able to make and execute difficult emotional decisions regarding the lives of injured, sick, and orphaned wildlife.
• Self-motivated and able to prioritize on the fly.
• There is a frequent need to stand, stoop, twist, walk, lift animal crates and other objects(up to 50 pounds), and stand on a concrete floor for up to 10 hours/day.
• Frequently requires standing, fine dexterity, walking, lifting, sitting, reaching, pushing/pulling, balancing, and twisting. Occasionally requires carrying, kneeling, foot controls, bending, and crouching. Rarely requires climbing.
• Will be handling/restraining sick, injured and orphaned native wild animals; exposure to zoonosis, bites, scratches and other potential injury.
• Pre-exposure rabies vaccinations; if none at time of hire must be willing to obtain within three months of employment.
• Applicants should expect exposure to allergens normally present in an environment containing mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians.
• Lindsay Wildlife Experience is a drug-free, smoke-free environment.

NON-PHYSICAL DEMANDS

• Frequent time constraints, multitasking, irregular schedule/overtime, working closely with others as part of a team, tedious or exacting work, and noisy/distracting environment. Rarely requires emergency situations.

OVERALL WORKING CONDITIONS

• Occasional exposure to unpleasant environmental conditions and/or hazards.
• Primarily office environment, as well as public exhibit hall programming, and infrequent outdoor event and/or outreach sites.

Hours, Benefits & Compensation

This is a full-time, non-exempt, hourly position and will require weekend and occasional holiday work. Lindsay Wildlife benefits include health, vacation, sick and holiday paid time-off.

EEO POLICY STATEMENT

It is the policy of Lindsay Wildlife Experience to afford equal employment opportunities to all qualified individuals without regard to their race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, citizen status, veteran status, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic or status that is protected by federal, state or local law.