On September 13th, our Chief Executive, Joseph, and community engagement lead on Paros, Isabel, visited Alkyoni, a wildlife hospital on the island of Paros dedicated to rescuing and rehabilitating wild animals across the Aegean islands.
It was a wonderful experience, where we learned about the hospital’s incredible work. To date, they have rescued and returned more than 17,000 wild animals to their natural habitats, and we were deeply impressed by their dedication to wildlife welfare.
In addition to their rescue efforts, Alkyoni provides workshops for local schools, teaching children the importance of caring for wildlife.
Many of the animals at Alkyoni have suffered significant trauma. Sadly, this includes gun shot wounds, ensnarement and an increasing number of animals suffering from dehydration and heat stress. The hospital’s mission is to rehabilitate them so they can be safely reintroduced into the wild—not to showcase them to visitors.
We discussed the growing number of animals being admitted to the hospital due to the extreme heat being experienced across Greece, including a record number of buzzards. Buzzards drink water which is getting harder to find during the summer which together with extreme heat is resulting in a large number of buzzards being rescued and brought to the hospital suffering heat related exhaustion and dehydration.
We agreed to identify ways in which we can support the hospital responding to the increasing pressure on their services from a changing climate.
During the visit, Joseph had the honour of releasing an Eleonora’s Falcon which had spent some time at the hospital after being rescued with a damaged wing.
“It was wonderful to experience first hand the results of the hospitals work and to release one of their patient’s back into the wild after a successful stay,” said Joseph.
We look forward to collaborating with Alkyoni to help more vulnerable wild animals in the future.
