Blue Ridge Wildlife Center

The Blue Ridge Wildlife Center is a 501(c)3 charity that assists native wildlife of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and DC through a wildlife hotline, the rescue and rehabilitation of injured, orphaned and sick native wild animals, wildlife advocacy, and education of the public about preserving wildlife and wildlife habitat.
The region served by the BRWC includes some of the most rapidly developing areas in the nation. This development has caused the destruction of huge amounts of wildlife habitat, and increasing numbers of incidents of "human-wildlife conflict". As a result, more and more members of the community are becoming concerned about preserving wildlife. This has created a great need and interest in the services and environmental education programs offered by the BRWC.
The BRWC has been growing rapidly since its inception in 2004. The number of calls for help on the BRWC wildlife hotline has increased from one or two a day to more than 6,000 a year. The number of rescued injured, orphaned, and sick wild animals has increased from 370 in 2005 to 1,880 in 2014, and requests for the BRWC education programs and internship positions have exceeded our current facility's capacity. In 2014, the BRWC staff gave environmental education programs to more than 5,000 children and adults, and reached many, many more when featured on Fox 5 Morning News on Earth Day and on TV 9 News. Appearances on additional TV and internet news organizations have informed the public about lead poisoning in eagles and other causes of wildlife injury and illness. Because of this growth the BRWC has launched a capital campaign to build a larger facility and expects to break ground this spring.