Wildlife Education
An educational hub for understanding, respecting, and protecting the animals that share our city — and our world. Built around the One Health idea: that human, animal, and environmental health are one story.
Our philosophy
You cannot care for a pet without caring for the world that pet lives in. The water it drinks, the air it breathes, the birds outside its window, the soil beneath its paws — they are all the same system. This page is dedicated to that idea.
Zoonotic diseases, food systems, clean water, mental wellbeing from contact with nature. Our health begins outside our doors.
Companion, wild, and farmed animals share the same biological web with us. Their health is an early signal of our own.
Biodiversity, climate, habitat, ecosystem function. The container that holds everything else.
First defined by ecologists in the early 2000s and now adopted by the WHO, OIE, and FAO, the One Health framework recognizes that none of these three can be addressed in isolation.
Wildlife Education Library
Fifteen plain-language guides covering urban wildlife, biodiversity, and coexistence. Grouped by what you might need today. Currently sent by request — Xavier is rolling them out as free downloads over time.
Want multiple guides?
Browse the entire XVC library as checkboxes — wildlife and beyond. Pick what you want, send one batched request.
The science of how human, animal, and environmental health are inseparable. The free guides establish the framework; the rest dig deeper into specific zoonoses, AMR, and global health partnerships.
From why wildlife matters to how you can help — covering ecosystems, threats, NYC species, and what to do when you encounter wildlife in distress.
From tropical rainforests to polar oceans — the planet's biomes and what makes each one alive.
Plants are the foundation of every ecosystem on land — evolution, pollination, trees by continent, and the lichens and ferns that keep the web together.
The systems that hold the biosphere together — carbon, water, weather — and the human pressures reshaping them.
Local NYC Wildlife
New York City is one of the most biodiverse urban environments on Earth. Five boroughs, eight million people, and an astonishing density of life that calls them home.
NYC sits in the Atlantic Flyway. Over 350 bird species pass through or live here, from peregrine falcons nesting on bridges to red-tailed hawks in Central Park. Songbirds, waterfowl, raptors, seabirds — the diversity is staggering.
Eastern gray squirrels, raccoons, opossums, deer, coyotes, foxes, bats, white-footed mice. The city's parks and green corridors support more mammal diversity than most people realize.
Garter snakes, painted turtles, snapping turtles, leopard frogs, salamanders. Most are non-venomous, all are protected, and seeing one in NYC is a small wild miracle worth pausing for.
Hudson River sturgeon, harbor seals at Swinburne Island, oysters being restored in the harbor, dolphins occasionally in the East River. The waterway is alive — and recovering.
Native bees, butterflies, fireflies still found in marginal habitats. NYC has even hosted rare insect species not seen elsewhere in the region. The smallest residents matter most.
Wildlife depends on the plants we choose. NYC's native flora — oak, dogwood, milkweed, goldenrod — supports more wildlife than ornamentals ever can. A backyard or window box is conservation.
Conservation around the world
The patterns we see in NYC echo around the world. What follows is a brief introduction to the ecosystems and challenges shaping life on Earth — and the small ways every household connects to all of it.
Just 36 regions cover 2.4% of Earth's land surface, yet they hold over half of all plant species and more than a third of all vertebrate species. Madagascar, the Amazon, the Mediterranean basin, the Western Ghats. Their protection is global priority work.
The ocean produces half the oxygen we breathe and absorbs about 30% of human-caused carbon dioxide. Coral reefs, kelp forests, the deep — they remain the least understood and most threatened systems on the planet.
From the Amazon to the Congo to the boreal North, forests are the largest terrestrial carbon stores and the homes of an immense share of land animals. Their stewardship is climate work.
Warming temperatures are reshaping where animals can live. Migration patterns are changing. Species are moving north and uphill. The animals we love — and the patients we treat — are adapting to a world we are still defining.
Injured Wildlife & Rehabilitation
Most found-wildlife situations are not emergencies. A calm 60 seconds prevents most poor outcomes. The right action almost always starts with a phone call — not a rescue attempt.
Most baby birds and mammals are not abandoned. Their parents are nearby. Step back, watch for 30 minutes, and resist the urge to "rescue" an animal that may simply be at rest or learning to fly.
The animal's first need is calm and safety. Restrain dogs and cats. Keep children at a respectful distance. Reduce noise, light, and movement around the area.
Do not feed, give water, or take a wild animal home. Untrained care often does more harm than good. Trained rehabilitators do this work for free, and they are the right call every time.
Important. Xavier's Veterinary Care is a veterinary technologist service for companion animals. We do not rehabilitate wildlife and we do not provide wildlife emergency care. Always contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitator or the appropriate authority before attempting to handle a wild animal. Wildlife handling without a license can be dangerous to you and unlawful in New York State.
Verified starting points
Three verified starting points for wildlife emergencies in NYC. Tap to call, tap to get directions. Always confirm hours and species accepted before transporting an animal.
565 Columbus Avenue (at 87th St), Manhattan · NYC's primary wildlife rehabilitation center
(646) 306-2862 Get directions →1 Hunters Point Plaza, Long Island City · Publishes the official NY wildlife rehabilitator list by county
(718) 482-4900 Find a rehabilitator (DEC list) →326 East 110th Street, Manhattan · Also Brooklyn, Bronx, Staten Island · For dogs, cats, rabbits — not wildlife
(212) 788-4000 Get directions →Phone numbers and hours can change. Verify before transporting an animal. For after-hours wildlife emergencies, the DEC list above identifies licensed rehabilitators by borough.
A curated, verified directory of every licensed wildlife rehabilitator serving NYC and the surrounding region — organized by borough, species accepted, and hours — is being compiled. Each entry will include a verified phone number, tap-to-call, and Google Maps directions.
How this directory gets built
Starting from the NYS DEC official list, each rehabilitator is contacted to verify current phone, species accepted, geographic coverage, and intake hours. Verified entries become live cards on this page, the same format as the three above.
If you are a licensed wildlife rehabilitator and want to be listed, please email XVetCare@gmail.com.
How you can help wildlife
Every household — every window, balcony, garden, choice — is part of the larger story. None of these are heroic gestures. They are the steady kind of love that wildlife actually needs.
Up to 1 billion birds die from window collisions in the US every year. Decals, paracord curtains, or external screens spaced two inches apart all work.
Native plants support up to 35× more biodiversity than ornamental imports. Even a window box of native flowers feeds pollinators.
It changes behavior, increases disease transmission, and creates conflict. Bird feeders done well are an exception — bread, leftovers, and "helpful" handouts are not.
Migrating birds use stars to navigate. Bright building lights disorient them, especially during spring and fall migration. Closing blinds matters.
Apps like iNaturalist, eBird, and Merlin let your observations contribute to global biodiversity science. Walking the park becomes data.
Wildlife rehabilitators, parks conservancies, and conservation organizations all depend on volunteers and small donations. An hour or twenty dollars genuinely matters.
Conservation & Educational Organizations
A starting set of internationally trusted organizations working at the front line of conservation, biodiversity, and environmental education. Visit them. Follow them. Support them when you can.
Saving wildlife and wild places worldwide for over 125 years. Headquartered at the Bronx Zoo, right here in NYC.
Visit websiteConserving the diversity and abundance of life on Earth across nearly 100 countries.
Visit websiteThe global authority on the status of the natural world — keepers of the Red List of Threatened Species.
Visit websiteProtecting birds and the places they need — today and for future generations.
Visit websiteAdvancing the understanding of birds through science, citizen participation, and conservation.
Visit websiteProtecting the lands and waters on which all life depends.
Visit websiteEnsuring wildlife thrives in a rapidly changing world — with a focus on community action.
Visit websiteDedicated solely to the conservation of the world's 40 wild cat species and their ecosystems.
Visit websiteWorking to ensure a healthy ocean for marine wildlife and the people who depend on it.
Visit websiteEducational links only. These resources are provided solely for educational purposes. Their inclusion here does not constitute endorsement, sponsorship, or formal affiliation with Xavier's Veterinary Care. Each organization is responsible for its own content, mission, and practices.
A note on stewardship
No single household saves a species. But every window decal, every native plant, every dollar to a rehabilitator, every careful phone call to a licensed expert instead of a heroic rescue attempt — these are the threads that, woven across millions of homes, become the safety net that wildlife depends on.
Learn. Protect. Appreciate. Pass it on. The animals you share this city with — and the ones living in places you may never see — are part of the same one health, one world. The future they inherit is the one we build today, one small decision at a time.
