Biologist Guidelines

Biologists in the field may become involved with a disaster.

Your and your team's personal safety comes first.

You and your research team should have disaster planning for yourself as part of your proposal and operations. The best preparation for psittacine victims is to make contact with local wildlife carers or rescue organizations, in advance, which even in non-crisis times is valuable and mutually beneficial. They may need your assistance on many levels, even in normal times (and vice versa).

It is very important to be familiar with the laws governing wildlife interactions within the country. In some areas, even benign assistance to injured psittacines may be an actionable offense. Making friends and securing professional bridges with local authorities will go a long way in the event of a catastrophe.

Gaining experience with psittacine restraint, capture, examination, and care could mean life-or-death in the field. It is well worth finding wildlife rehabilitators, avian-experienced veterinarians, and and others willing to train you on these skills. Handling frightened and defensive adult psittacines is a much different experience from chicks in the nest.

Check the ongoing disaster events and emergency-initiated contacts information for help.