The end of an era has come for one family within the Adirondacks. The Adirondack Wildlife Refuge had to shut its doors on October 25th, 2021(Gwendolyn 2021). Wendy Hall has been operating a wildlife refuge within the Adirondacks for many years (Gwendolyn 2021). But, more recently there has been significant issues and regulations being improperly followed by Wendy Hall within the Adirondack Wildlife Refuge(Gwendolyn 2021). Therefore, it is apparent that by improperly caring for Wildlife Refuges then there will be negative consequences to both the community and populations of animals.
First, it is important to briefly discuss the issues occurring within the Adirondacks pertaining to the Adirondack Wildlife Refuge. The Adirondack Wildlife Refuge has been operated by Wendy Hall. However, in the past 7 years there have been allegations of improper licenses being used pertaining to this refuge, as well as allegations of animals not being properly rehabilitated into the wild, and finally certain animals escaping the refuge(Gwendolyn 2021). All of these issues are quite concerning for both the animals and the community. This is why it is essential that a wildlife refuge must follow all proper regulations in order to operate.
Some people have rallied to allow Wendy Hall’s refuge to not be shut down. However, having a wildlife refuge improperly run within the Adirondacks can lead to significant issues to both the animals and the community. First off, there are concerns that Wendy Hall was not releasing birds back into their habitats and instead had left more than a dozen birds on display to the public when they should have been rehabilitated (Gwendolyn 2021). Clearly, this is a significant issue to the birds. By keeping the birds in a form of captivity, it causes them to not be able to properly reproduce, grow, and be free within their environment. Additionally, there have been reports of animals escaping the refugee. For example, the DEC noted that a bear escaped from the Adirondack Wildlife Refuge in 2019, as well as a bobcat in 2021, and the same two bears again in 2021 (Gwendolyn 2021). If large predatory animals are escaping these refuges then it can have very negative effects on the community and the animals itself. Animals that escape their refuge enclosures will be unaware of their new public environment and could easily harm the public due to the stress of the new environment. Also, it is obvious that a bear and bobcat should not be roaming in public areas as that puts their own health and survival at increased danger. It is evident that the malfunction of care of a wildlife refuge will result in poor consequences to both the population of those animals and the human community. This is why it is essential that wildlife refuges like the Adirondack Wildlife Refuge be held accountable and follow all proper regulations to ensure the proper safety for both the animals and Adirondack community.
In conclusion, it is obvious that the failure to obey certain regulations and care for animals within a wildlife refuge will result in poor outcomes making it easy to understand why the Adirondack Wildlife Refuge must close its doors. It is not to be taken lightly, caring for a wildlife sanctuary is incredibly challenging. However, the significance of a wildlife sanctuary is also incredibly important which means that it is essential that a wildlife sanctuary be cared for properly. It is no wonder that because the Adirondack Wildlife Refuge was improperly cared for it resulted in poor outcomes. Maybe if the operators of the Adirondack Wildlife Refuge properly operated their refuge then they wouldn’t have had to close the doors of this animal sanctuary…
Works Cited:
Explorer, Gwendolyn Craig Adirondack. “Wildlife Refuge’s Animals Leaving after Licenses Surrendered.” Times Union, 10 Oct. 2021, www.timesunion.com/news/article/Wildlife-refuge-s-animals-leaving-after-licenses-16520604.php.
says, Sarah, et al. “Violations and Health Complications Temporarily Shutter Adirondack Wildlife Refuge.” Adirondack Explorer, 7 Oct. 2021, www.adirondackexplorer.org/stories/adirondack-wildlife-refuge-closes-temporarily.
This was my week to meet with the writing tutor so I met with Nhan this week to discuss this blog post.