What should I do if I find a wild animal in distress while on holiday?
by firmm Team
Text: Christine Schmid, photos: Christine Schmid, Fred Birk
The Andalusian town of Tarifa has become a very popular holiday destination for Spaniards and tourists from all over the world. Tarifa and its surroundings offer plenty of variety and outdoor activities. The old town is full of small, typical restaurants and bars, and the "chiringuitos" (small beach bars) on the beach are very popular for watching the stunning sunset after a long day. It is also a very cosy place to sit when the wind is too strong to stretch out on the endless white sandy beach.
Others come for windsurfing or kitesurfing, hiking, cycling or to observe nature and its flora and fauna. Ornithologists are in their own personal paradise in spring and autumn. And whale and dolphin lovers like us can even take a boat into the strait seven months of the year to observe up to seven species of marine mammals in the wild.
All this sounds like paradise. And in most cases, it is. But every now and then we receive calls or emails from desperate tourists to inform us about stranded or injured animals and to ask for help.
The most typical cases are stranded dolphins or turtles on the beach, vultures on the road that are unable to fly and other birds in distress.
Unfortunately, we don't have a rescue centre at firmm, so we have neither the possibility nor the permission to collect, transport or house these animals. So what do you do if you find a dead or injured animal?
In Andalusia, we now have a regulated protocol on how to proceed in such cases. These animals are handled by special facilities with staff who specialise in the individual species. But you can't call them directly.
- Wenn möglich, am besten mit irgendeiner Referenz wegen der Größe, z. B. eine Münze oder irgendein Objekt, mit dem man die reale Größe des Tieres einschätzen kann.
- Die genaue Position des Tieres bestimmen. Wenn man keinen Anhaltspunkt wie z. B. eine Kilometerangabe an der Straße, ein öffentliches Gebäude oder Ähnliches findet, kann man mit dem Handy den Standort festhalten.
- Im Anschluss die Notrufnummer 112 wählen. Diese Nummer ist europaweit kostenlos.
- Dort schildert man den Vorfall:
- Welches Tier?
- Wo?
- Wie groß?
- In welchem Zustand?
Die Person, die den Notruf entgegennimmt, wird umgehend die zuständige Stelle informieren und mit der Rettung oder Bergung beauftragen.