Why Save an Oiled Bird?
Flo Tseng, director of Tufts’ Wildlife Clinic, responds to the question some are asking in the wake of the spill in the Gulf. Medford/Somerville, Mass. [08.25.10] While photos of oil-covered pelicans desperately trying to flap their wings and beached sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico may appear dire, veteran wildlife rehabilitator Flo Tseng says it’s important to save these animals. “This comes up at every big spill,” saysTseng, director of theWildlife Clinicat theCummings School of Veterinary Medicine. “You get people who say, ‘Should we be spending all this money on rehabilitating oiled wildlife? Shouldn’t we be using this money for more long-term conservation efforts?’ “Just because people are doing the rehabilitation doesn’t mean there’s no money left to do other things,” she says, noting that legislation Congress enacted after the Exxon-Valdez oil spill in 1989 provides funding mechanisms both for rescuing wildlife and acquiring and restoring habitats. Not all oiled wildlife can o
