‘Founded in the 1980s, as a small local wildlife rescue charity, the Wildlife Aid Foundation (WAF) has grown exponentially, dealing with up to 20,000 wildlife-related incidents, each year. Being the subject of one of the longest-running wildlife documentary series, ‘Wildlife SOS’, has secured the charity a firm place in the hearts of the nation. WAF relies on a small army of over 300 volunteers, and runs regular outreach and education programmes that help people take action to make the world a better place for us and our wild neighbours, in the natural world.
On any given day, our rescuers could be scaling trees to rescue stranded baby owls or cutting fox cubs from garden netting. Our vets will be performing life-saving surgery, while our carers look after hundreds of patients and young babies being nursed in our rehab centre. Our centre has the capacity to house over a thousand patients at any one time, so it’s important that our staff and volunteers have the benefit of efficient and effective equipment, like the TLC ICU range.
In 2023, we took in over 3000 garden birds, over half of these were hatchlings and nestlings. At these young ages, it is essential their environment is constant, to give them the very best chance of survival. With the TLC-30, 40 and 50 now in our arsenal, our staff and volunteers will have the reassurance and reliability that these incubators provide, allowing them to focus on other aspects of the birds’ rehabilitation. The TLC-40s will allow us to house up to three nests of similar species and age that require the same temperature, giving us the ability to categorise stages of rehabilitation to each incubator. During the orphan season, orphans grow at a rapid pace, so moving patients through the rehab system efficiently is vital to our work.
Simon from Wildlife Aid Foundation and a few of their Brinsea TLC incubators!
One-on-one care plays an important role in both the young and critical patients we admit. With a large foster team needing to transport the patients to and from the centre when they are due for veterinary checks, the functionality of the TLC-30s will help make this process smoother for the patients, by keeping their environment steady during transport. With warmth a critical element for helping any animal recover from illness, the TLC-50 has already been put to good use for one of our larger species, a collapsed common buzzard. With the bird unable to thermoregulate, the TLC-50 provided a regulated environment, preventing the bird from needing to use energy in trying to keep warm, itself.
Working with wildlife often involves working with unknown illnesses and ailments’, with some requiring isolation and extra biosecurity. The ease of keeping the Brinsea incubators clean is such a lifesaver, literally. With the option to take TLC-40’s and 50’s apart allowing us to clean in all the little gaps, means we have no reason to doubt re-using them for the next patient. The tutorial videos on cleaning the fans and filters are also great for our large team, making the task quick and simple, without the worry we’re going to break something. The incubators function exactly the way we need them to, they are easy to use and easy to clean, which is vital with so many volunteers and patients using them.’
Stacey Fletcher
