Wildlife Haven hosts baby shower for animals

Items available on the registry included bandages, food, crates, and toys. Donors could also buy gift cards or bring monetary donations to the centre. (Source: Zach Kitchen, CTV News Winnipeg)

A Manitoba wildlife sanctuary is celebrating the arrival of spring and the new baby animals that come with it.

A baby shower for animals was hosted by Wildlife Haven in Ile des Chênes. Executive director Zoe Nakata said the event was also in celebration of Earth Day.

"The spring is a very busy time at Wildlife Haven Rehabilitation Centre," she said. "We've got a lot of baby animals - and some adults too - that will require care. Either they’ll be injured, orphaned, or sick. And it just requires a lot of items to see to that care."

The sanctuary created an online baby registry where people can buy food, supplies, and medical gear to help take care of the hundreds of animals taken in every spring.

"We know how fun of a way it is to prepare for human babies, so we figured why not do that for baby animals?" said Nakata.

Items available on the registry included bandages, food, crates, and toys. Donors could also buy gift cards or bring monetary donations to the centre.

Nakata said Wildlife Haven has been taking in more and more animals over the last few years.

"Year over year the number of animals that we treat does increase, especially in the spring," she said. "We can expect about 750 animals to come through our doors just in the next two months, so that's a significant increase and a significant number of our total animals every year."

Nakata added it's important for them to prepare ahead of time, as the sanctuary will be very busy in a few weeks. "We require all of our team members, a lot of volunteers, and all of these supplies ready and available," she said.

For anyone who does come across a seemingly injured or orphaned animal, Nakata said to call Wildlife Haven first at [phone], or go to its website.  "It can be a pretty stressful and scary situation," said Nakata. “Give us a call and we'll be able to walk you through it.”