BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — The Tehachapi Volunteer Wildlife Transport Group is calling on compassionate, committed volunteers from Arvin and beyond to help rescue and transport wildlife in need.
The organization, founded last July, is one of the only transport groups of its kind on the West Coast. Currently, 22 volunteers are helping transport animals, but the need continues to grow.
Deirdra Vierra, the volunteer coordinator, noted a significant increase in rescues.
"Last year, we were able to transport 38 animals. This year so far, I believe we are close to 100," Vierra said.
The group receives calls for help from various local and federal wildlife agencies.
"We are being referred by fishing game, by BLM, wildlife biologists in the area, and we need more volunteers to transport because we just don't have the capacity to fill the need that's out there," Vierra said.
The surge in rescues is partly due to animals being born early.
"A lot of fledgling owls that were born really early, so it really probably a month earlier than normal. The possum babies and the rabbit babies have probably been about six weeks earlier than normal," Vierra said.
The group is specifically looking for volunteers in Kern County, including Arvin, Taft, Bakersfield, and Frazier Park. People who are interested must have a car, insurance, and a valid driver's license.
Vierra and volunteer Jayne Ashton recently met at Tejon Ranch to transport possums found in eastern Bakersfield to a care center on the coast.
"Deirdra's is taking them to Piru, who will meet a volunteer from Ojai Raptor, from Piru. They will go to Ojai Raptor, from Ojai Raptor. They will go to Santa Barbara Wild Care Center," Ashton said.
Because some drives take more than an hour, the group hopes to recruit enough volunteers to divide the trips.
"We need more drivers so that we can create relays and keep the driving pieces shorter for everybody," Vierra said. "People get burned out really easily. So the more people we can have in our driving pool, the more rotation we can have."
The volunteers hope others will sign up to help save the animals.
"You get a lot of fulfillment from helping them. And if we didn't help them, they would have no help," Ashton said. "We have a saying it's worth a try and we try on every one of them. We don't turn anything down."
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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