Raccoon boot camp in the US teaches abandoned kits survival skills
A wildlife rescue center in Mississippi is operating a 'boot camp' to rehabilitate orphaned raccoon kits for life in the wild. The program teaches survival skills to animals that lost their mothers due to accidents or environmental factors.
Why it matters
It showcases grassroots efforts in wildlife conservation and the challenges of rehabilitating indigenous species for reintroduction into their natural habitats.
Muddy, sweat-soaked and occasionally bloody, the dedicated staff at a wildlife centre in Mississippi, United States are drill sergeants. And their soldiers? Baby raccoons.
Welcome to raccoon boot camp, where the goal is to help sick or injured animals learn to survive in the south Mississippi wilderness – a skill set they would have learned from their mothers, most of whom died or were separated from their kits by storms, traffic accidents or other traumatic events.
It's a challenge that has left Woodside Wildlife Rescue’s founder, Paula Woodside, with cuts from scared, defensive raccoons and their sharp claws, and when she isn’t able to save a kit, emotional scars too.
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