If you encounter injured, ill, or orphaned wildlife, please contact your Department of Natural Resources or regional Game and Fish Office for further information. Wildlife rehabilitation centers and veterinarians may also offer assistance (please call first).

Concerning wildlife:

-Do not take baby wildlife from the wild.
-Quietly observe wildlife from a respectable distance.
-Do not try to care for wildlife on your own; many species require specialized handling and care. There is great potential to do more harm than good.
-Do not keep wildlife as pets; in many cases, it is illegal to posses wildlife without proper state and federal permits.
-Do not approach or handle unfamiliar animals or animals exhibiting abnormal behavior; injuries (bites, scratches) and zoonotic disease transmission are risks. 
-Report abnormal animal behavior and animal bites to appropriate authorities such as animal control, veterinarian, public health agency, and/or wildlife agency.
-Keep pets up-to-date on their vaccines; limit exposure to wildlife by keeping cats indoors and dogs on leashes.

For additional information on wildlife rehabilitation, please visit:

National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association
International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council

If you have any tips on wildlife rehabilitation, please add them in the comments below! Thanks!

On April 2, 2020, the Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (FADDL) confirmed RHDV2 in a wild black-tailed jackrabbit and wild cottontails in New Mexico, representing the first detection of this virus in wild rabbits in the United States. On April 8th, the laboratory confirmed that a cottontail and black-tailed jackrabbit had died from RHDV2 in Arizona.

https://agriculture.az.gov/news/press-release-rabbit-hemorrhagic-disease-arizona

National Wildlife Health Center Wildlife Health Bulletin 2020-04: https://www.usgs.gov/media/files/rabbit-hemorrhagic-disease-virus-2-confirmed-wild-rabbits-us

There is a wealth of information available about wildlife health, diseases, and conservation. Explore the links below to learn more about wildlife health topics that may be of interest to you. If you come across a resource not listed here, feel free to add it in the comments section.
-List updated 4/01/20-

Animal & Human Health for the Environment And Development (AHEAD)
http://www.wcs-ahead.org/index.html

Australian Registry of Wildlife Health
http://www.arwh.org/

Bayer Bee Health
https://beehealth.bayer.us/home

Beak Deformities in Landbirds- Alaska Science Center
https://on.doi.gov/2UKmtU0

Bighorn Sheep Disease Research Consortium
http://www.bighornhealth.org/

Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative
http://www.cwhc-rcsf.ca/

Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance
http://www.cwd-info.org/

EcoHealth Alliance
http://www.ecohealthalliance.org/about/

Garden Wildlife Health
http://www.gardenwildlifehealth.org/

Honey Bee Health Coalition
https://honeybeehealthcoalition.org/

House Finch eye disease- Cornell Lab of Ornithology
https://feederwatch.org/learn/house-finch-eye-disease/

LafeberVet
http://lafeber.com/vet/

Sea Star Wasting Syndrome- MARINe
https://www.eeb.ucsc.edu/pacificrockyintertidal/data-products/sea-star-wasting/

USGS National Wildlife Health Center
https://www.usgs.gov/centers/nwhc

Wildlife Health Information Sharing Partnership (WHISPers)
Mortality Reporting System
https://whispers.usgs.gov/home

White-Nose Syndrome Response Team
https://www.whitenosesyndrome.org/

Wildlife Health Australia
https://www.wildlifehealthaustralia.com.au/

World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE)
http://www.oie.int/en/

Great article and video from CNN about how human behavior influences disease spillover between species by rapidly and negatively altering the natural world.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/19/health/coronavirus-human-actions-intl/index.html

A step in the right direction for wildlife conservation! Beginning July 1, 2019, lead ammunition is banned for hunting wildlife anywhere in California. See article below:

Lead Ammunition is Now Banned for Hunting Wildlife in California

Rodenticides kill far more than their intended targets. Support California bill AB 1788 to ban the use of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides which harms wildlife through secondary poisoning.

How to help:

Please email the California Senate Environmental Quality Committee, and ask them to vote YES in support of AB 1788.

Written comments are urgently requested to be in by 12 PM on Wednesday, June 5.

For more information about this bill, including how to email the committee, visit Citizens for Los Angeles Wildlife (CLAW) at http://www.clawonline.org/banratpoison.

Many thanks to member @andreacala for bringing this issue to our attention.

Thank you for your contributions to the project so far! It has been very interesting seeing your observations from over 700 species worldwide! Please continue to monitor and submit morbidity and mortality observations to this project if possible. If you have any suggestions or comments, feel free to add them below!

If you feed birds this winter in North America, another way to monitor sick/injured birds is by joining Project FeederWatch through the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: https://feederwatch.org/. The 2018-19 season begins on November 10th and ends on April 5th. “Your bird counts help you keep track of what is happening in your own backyard and help scientists track long-term trends in bird distribution and abundance.” You can also submit photos online which is a great way to track any diseases among birds that visit your feeder, especially House Finch eye disease.

Recent FeederWatch blog posts
• House Finch eye disease: https://feederwatch.org/blog/house-finch-eye-disease-increased-virulence-disease-progresses/
• Keeping your bird feeders clean to prevent disease: https://feederwatch.org/blog/cleaning-preventing-disease/

Monitoring wildlife populations is truly a team effort- thank you to all participants!