Teton Raptor Center

EDUCATION: TETON RAPTOR CENTERS education team provides purpose for eleven non-releasable raptors through outreach in a variety of settings including schools, community events, and public venues such as lodges and parks. These educational and entertaining programs are designed for audiences of all ages with the intent to highlight the importance of raptors within an ecosystem, to explore ways in which our choices can help wildlife, and to share details about all of the work done by the three pillars of TRC (research, rehabilitation,and education). In FY 2023-24, Teton Raptor Centers staff, with the help of our avian ambassadors and a team of incredibly dedicated volunteers, conducted 403 programs (265 on-site, 138 offsite) for 17,733 participants.

REHABILITATION: All of Teton Raptor Centers programming is largely dependent on the time and talent of volunteers, especially in the rehabilitation department. In FY 2023-24, TRC volunteers donated a total of 7,808 hours to support raptor conservation in the clinic, in the field, and in the classroom. Teton Raptor Center offers rescue, emergency medical treatment, and rehabilitative care to injured, ill, and orphaned birds of prey in an effort to return these birds to the wild. TRC is one of only three facilities in the state of Wyoming offering this scope for birds of prey. In FY 2023-24, TRC admitted a total of 212 patients, including 178 raptors representing 23 species from Idaho and Wyoming. We cared for 25 Corvids, and provided short-term stabilization and treatment to 9 other avian species. Vehicle strikes, window strikes, and gunshots were the leading causes for admission. Great Horned Owls were the most common patient species, with 40 admitted to the clinic. Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza was a challenging disease to confront throughout the year and 2 patients that tested positive for the virus were admitted into our Quarantine Zone. Working with our primary veterinarians and veterinary advisers, TRC advances treatments, protocols, and medical techniques that improve patient care.

RESEARCH/CONSERVATION: Teton Raptor Center supports and leads on-the-ground conservation initiatives to protect birds of prey and their habitat. In FY 2023-24, TRCs studies include field research and conservation planning on 13 distinct projects across the Intermountain West and Great Plains, with active partnerships with 21 agencies and organizations. TRCs research team focuses on developing future ecologists and actively supported three graduate students this year. In FY 2023-24 TRC continued work on several key conservation initiatives, including a conservation planning tool for golden eagles across Wyoming, the Sporting Lead-Free initiative and construction of artificial nesting structures for Golden Eagles in the Great Plains and Ferruginous Hawks in western Wyoming. The conservation team began a new, long-term project with two new collaborators in the Bighorn Basin in early 2023 to better understand the links between development and raptor nesting. Teton Raptor Centers Port-O-Potty Owl Project, aimed at protecting cavity-nesting wildlife from entrapment in vault toilets, has reached all 50 states, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Canada. Since 2013, TRC has distributed 19,968 screens to 661 partner organizations and agencies. And, our Sporting Lead-Free initiative has had a broad reach in educating hunters and anglers about alternatives to lead ammunition and tackle, through demonstrations, social media, podcasts, events, and interviews. The initiative launched a national campaign this year and had 569 members, 42 ambassadors, and 27 conservation partner organizations across 46 states and six countries at the end of FY 2023-24.