South Essex Wildlife Hospital

South Essex Wildlife Hospital Dedicated to putting “life” back into the “wild”
veterinary care and rehabilitation for wildlife.

What a lovely gift! 🥰We had a wonderful surprise when we opened our post yesterday... The British Hedgehog Preservation ...
16/07/2025

What a lovely gift! 🥰

We had a wonderful surprise when we opened our post yesterday... The British Hedgehog Preservation Society had gifted us a free heatpad!

Providing heat is a vital first step for many of our patients and this kind gift will be put to use very quickly! Thanks to all at BHPS for making our day!

Our baby kestrel has gone from fluff to attitude in just a week! 🤣Found alone in a field, there was no sign of parental ...
15/07/2025

Our baby kestrel has gone from fluff to attitude in just a week! 🤣

Found alone in a field, there was no sign of parental activity and the poor bird was still far too young to be out of the nest. Although not physically injured, we had no choice but to take over parental duties ourselves.

Initially covered in a fluffy down for warmth (something that doesn't seem as needed with our recent hot weather!), birds grow up VERY quickly and it's only taken a week for this fluffball to reveal the kestrel hiding beneath. From being a little confused with life at first, it has now developed quite the attitude and definitely doesn't like our animal care team - something that's actually a very good sign!

When it comes to birds of prey, it can be very easy to tame or imprint youngsters if they are not raised properly. Luckily, we have several methods to avoid this, but please make sure to contact a wildlife rescue ASAP if you find a young bird of prey in need of help and don't attempt to rear it yourself ❤

Saved from the brink of death... ❤This little chap had a VERY lucky escape after getting stuck in a unit at Tilbury dock...
14/07/2025

Saved from the brink of death... ❤

This little chap had a VERY lucky escape after getting stuck in a unit at Tilbury docks... Luckily, he was spotted by a member of the public at 11pm and, after a report to our out-of-hours rescue line, Lawrie and Alannah from our staff team rushed over to help.

On arrival at the dock entrance, they met this tiny weasel - a youngster so collapsed that he was barely able to move. Dehydrated, cold and emaciated, he was so close to death that we honestly weren't sure if he would make the night.

After gently warming the poor boy with body heat and the car's heating, Alannah set to work trying to correct his hydration. It is vital not to rush things in this sort of situation and, over the course of the next few hours she managed to slowly convince him to lap at some Oralade rehydration solution (something we have found to be fantastic at this sort of work).

Just 24 hours later and you'd never know just how collapsed he was! Although still noticeably thin, he is active and both drinking and eating by himself. We are beyond thrilled at his progress and will do all we can to make sure we can get him back to 100% for release in the near future! ❤

We thought we'd end this week with the one thing our patients value most - freedom.We've been fortunate to see a whole h...
13/07/2025

We thought we'd end this week with the one thing our patients value most - freedom.

We've been fortunate to see a whole host of patients head back to the wild this week and each and every one is still as special as the first ones we ever did. From foxes to pigeons and from bats to swifts (this one was actually released earlier today!), we're thrilled to have been able to give so many their second chance back in the wild.

Wild animals only have one thing - life. Whilst humans continue to place barriers in the way of the natural world we, and many others, will still be here trying to correct the imbalance.

Good luck everyone, and thanks to you all for making this possible! ❤

Yet another little fox with a VERY lucky escape... 😫🦊Like the other fox we posted about recently, this young male was st...
11/07/2025

Yet another little fox with a VERY lucky escape... 😫🦊

Like the other fox we posted about recently, this young male was stuck fast between a concrete fence post and a wooden shed. When an Animal Rescue Officer from the RSPCA (England & Wales) arrived on scene, the poor cub was so stuck that the fire brigade had to be called out to assist 😰

Getting him out took a lot of work, but finally he was free and was rushed straight into our care. Although initially looking like he escaped major injury, his case soon turned into an example of why you should never release a trapped animal in scene without the appropriate checks...

Over the course of the next few days, major bruising and, finally, open wounds started to appear around his groin and ge****ls. We had suspected this to be the case and vets Tom and Alda have been hard at work fixing the damage as it develops. This poor boy still has a long way to go (and is currently walking strangely as a result), but early signs are positive and we will do all we can to get this poor boy back out to the wild. Please wish him the best of luck! ❤🦊

Today, we're saying a fond farewell to some of our juvenile swallows!Raising a bird always takes a lot of work, but bein...
10/07/2025

Today, we're saying a fond farewell to some of our juvenile swallows!

Raising a bird always takes a lot of work, but being able to watch as they take their first flight to freedom always makes every second worth it. These birds were released in a beautiful location where swallows have been spotted nesting and it only took a few seconds after release for dozens of local swallows to join them in the skies!

With a journey of thousands of miles to make in the autumn, we're so glad these birds have the support of wild locals to help them on the last stage of their journey ❤

With most of our seal pups traveling dozens or even hundreds of miles to our hospital, it was a little unusual to be cal...
09/07/2025

With most of our seal pups traveling dozens or even hundreds of miles to our hospital, it was a little unusual to be called out to one sat on a beach in Westcliff-On-Sea! 🦭

This (utterly adorable) common seal pup was spotted under the jetty of the Thames Estuary Yacht Club and Anna, one of our seal carers, rushed over to investigate. Small, lethargic, alone and with an injured belly, the decision was quickly made to bring the young pup into rehab and Anna quickly transferred her into our seal unit.

Although now much brighter, examinations found an umbilical hernia and she is now on a course of treatment and careful feeding. She is definitely not 100%, but she is making great progress and we are keeping everything crossed for her.

Come on... how could you not fall for those eyes? 👀

Yesterday, we were delighted to partner with Essex Police to deliver a talk on the rise of catapult attacks on animals t...
09/07/2025

Yesterday, we were delighted to partner with Essex Police to deliver a talk on the rise of catapult attacks on animals to students from Beauchamps High School Official in Wickford. Over the course of three hours, we spoke with students from years 7, 8 and 9 about the rise in catapult injuries against wildlife and what ethical and legal consequences could be faced when caught.

The students and staff, who were just as appalled as we were about this, were a fantastic audience and were more than happy to work with us to stop this rising trend. Many thanks to all at Beauchamps School, who also showed us the fantastic wildlife garden they are building to encourage students to care for our wild environment!

(Thanks to PCSO Ian Grant for the images)

Can you help a hungry hog get a meal? 🦔https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/1K2NGRWZUD337Our young hedgehog season is...
08/07/2025

Can you help a hungry hog get a meal? 🦔

https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/1K2NGRWZUD337

Our young hedgehog season is now well underway here at SEWH, with more of these spiky little critters arriving every single day! With so many in need of our help (and the help of our orphan rearing volunteers), we urgently need to restock some vital food supplies 😫

Currently, we need a lot of 'Starter mousse', waxworms and powdered milk formula to keep their tiny bellies (along with some of our birds) full. If you are able to help us out, please see our Amazon Wishlist at the link above! ❤

THANK YOU!

(Please note, due a bug with Amazon you may see the message 'item cannot be delivered to registry address'. If so, please just enter our address manually and it should work perfectly!)

Trapped with barely enough room to breathe! 😰You may not believe it, but that's a fox cub trapped in between those two c...
07/07/2025

Trapped with barely enough room to breathe! 😰

You may not believe it, but that's a fox cub trapped in between those two concrete pillars... Sadly, he had got jammed whilst trying to squeeze through and, when rescuers Alannah and Lawrie arrived on scene, was well and truly wedged in place.

With zero wiggle room (even with a crowbar), progress to lift him back to freedom was slow. Movement could only be made between breaths and the poor cub had to be completely supported to avoid further damage. Luckily, our team are very experienced with this type of rescue and, with a lot of wiggling, eventually lifted the poor boy to freedom.

With such a tight constriction, he was taken back to our hospital where vets Tom and Alda checked him over. Amazingly, the only injury he'd sustained was a grazed paw and, after a few days of monitoring to make 100% sure, he was able to be returned home to his mum 🥰

Did you know it costs us more than £1,500 a DAY to run?? If you wanted to support our work, you can do so at https://www.southessexwildlife.org/donate

When it comes to raising baby birds, it's not an easy process. Although they can go from the egg to fledgling in just 14...
06/07/2025

When it comes to raising baby birds, it's not an easy process. Although they can go from the egg to fledgling in just 14 days, it takes a LOT of work to get them there and some can be a lot harder to raise than others.

Whilst some, like robins, starlings and many larger species are relatively robust, some, like goldcrests, goldfinches and, in this case, wrens, need a very specialist touch. From requiring very specific heating conditions to needing feeds every 5-10 minutes, it is VERY hard to get them through!

This year, thanks to the efforts of staff member, Alannah, she has been able to raise literally dozens of these tiny little birds with a success rate well in excess of 95%. Believe it or not, but the bird in that third photo was part of that tiny hatchling group not too long ago!

Amazingly, it won't be long before this nest group can return to the wild ❤

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Orsett

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