One Health and the wildlife rehabilitator

Sharon L Deem

doi:10.53607/wrb.v42.272

Authors

Sharon L Deem Saint Louis Zoo Institute for Conservation Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53607/wrb.v42.272

Keywords:

ecosystem health, One Health practitioners, planetary health, wildlife rehabilitation, Biosentinels, conservation medicine

Abstract

The One Health approach is gaining momentum as a transdisciplinary movement for finding solutions to the greatest challenges threatening the health of all life on Earth today. These threats range from climate change and emerging infectious diseases to pollution and the ever-expanding agricultural footprint. As awareness of the interconnection of the health of animals, humans, plants, and our shared environments has grown in recent years, so too has an appreciation for finding solutions to mitigate those challenges threatening our shared One Health. Within the One Health approach is the important role of the wildlife rehabilitator. As wildlife rehabilitators, we provide temporary care for diseased wildlife so that we may introduce them back into their appropriate habitats. The importance of healthy wildlife populations to ensure the health of domestic animals, humans, and the environments that support all life is central to our jobs as wildlife caregivers, and it is core to the One Health mission. Approaching our work through a One Health lens, we may create a healthier world for wildlife patients, the populations they represent, the habitats where they belong, and the domestic animals and humans that share their environments.

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Author Biography

Sharon L Deem, Saint Louis Zoo Institute for Conservation Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA

Sharon Deem is a wildlife veterinarian and epidemiologist. She is the Director of the Saint Louis Zoo Institute for Conservation Medicine. Additionally, she currently serves as the President Elect for the American Association of Zoo Vets and leads the semester course “One Health: Linking the Health of Humans, Animals, and the Environment” at Washington University in St. Louis.

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