Healing Process

Caring for birds with broken wings, injured lizards and threatened species is all in a day’s work for veterinary sta at an exemplary wildlife hospital in Spain.

- David Lindo

When we break a bone or strain a muscle, usually, it’s a case of shrouding the offending body part in a cast or sling, and taking our recovery for granted. But for a bird, such an injury has far more serious implications.

Birds in Britain are fortunate enough to have a plethora of wildlife hospitals at their disposal to cater for bumps, bangs and breaks. On the continent, however, avian first aid is not always so readily available.

One of the richest areas for birdlife in Western Europe is Extremadura, Spain, a largely rural area along the Portuguese border. Though it is twice the size of Wales, Extremadura is the most sparsely populated region in the country, with just 1.1 million inhabitants in its two provinces: Badajoz in the south; Cáceres in the north. Visit the region, cast your eyes skywards, and you’ll almost certainly spot a large-winged bird of some description soaring through the air. Extremadura has everything from great bustards to Spanish sparrows; boasts the largest wintering population of birds in the Iberian Peninsula; and is home to at least 900 pairs of the globally threatened black (or cinereous) vulture.

So, what happens if you find an injured bird in this vast land? To put things into perspective, in Wales you’d have at least 20 facilities at your disposal; in Extremadura, there are just two – one in each province. I’ve come to Badajoz, to find out what goes on behind the scenes at Acción por el Mundo Salvaje (AMUS: Action for the Wild World), a small wildlife hospital set in 1.5ha of land near the equally small village of Villafranca de los Barros.

From the ground up