Many wildlife rehabilitators work from home and receive little or no financial compensation. Volunteer positions with nonprofit organizations are also common. Most wildlife rehabilitators these days work at home. We can't charge for anything we do because they're state-owned animals, so we survive strictly on donations.
If you're in it for the money, you'll be disappointed. Friends of Texas Wildlife is a 501 (c) nonprofit organization; 100% of all donations support native Texas wildlife and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. Wildlife rehabilitators, who have extensive knowledge of various animals and the care they need, often work for non-profit groups, humanitarian societies, zoos, or even the government. Wildlife rehabilitators examine and care for several wild animals that are sick, injured, or orphaned in the hope of returning them to the wild.
Along with extensive knowledge of various animals, wildlife rehabilitators will need appropriate state and federal licenses and permits to care for animals and release them back into the wild. There are certain skills that many wildlife rehabilitators have to fulfill their responsibilities. If you also want to rehabilitate birds, you will need a U.S. Department of State, in addition to the state permit.
If you like animals or wildlife in general, a career as a wildlife rehabilitator can be fun and rewarding. Salary estimates are based on 6628 salaries sent anonymously to Glassdoor by a Wildlife Rehabilitator employee. Although wildlife rehabilitators have to go through training and study as much as possible, they are not veterinarians and have to seek professional medical assistance in the event of an injured animal, such as an owl with a broken wing or a deer hit by a car with a broken leg; a raccoon caught by a dog covered in bites; a squirrel with pellet gun pellets on its back. To work in the field of wildlife rehabilitation, you must have a lot of training in proper veterinary techniques of wild animals and have reasonably complete experience in animal science.
Meanwhile, many wildlife rehabilitators also have previous professional experience in roles such as volunteers or VET assistants. If you're interested in becoming a wildlife rehabilitator, one of the first things you should consider is how much education you need. Even though most Wildlife Rehabilitators have a college degree, it's possible to become one with just a high school degree or GED. There are many caring people out there who go the extra mile to help that baby and take him to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator or wildlife center.