Secret World Wildlife Rescue helped nearly 3,000 sick, injured and orphaned animals from its centre near Burnham-On-Sea during 2024.
Garden birds were the species that were most admitted, accounting for 1,012 animals in need of help.
Hedgehogs were the second-most helped animal, with 501 needing assistance.
In addition, the charity also received 15,102 phone calls asking for advice on sick, injured or orphaned animals across the Burnham-On-Sea area and beyond. There were also 1,480 response driver call outs.
A spokesperson for Secret World Wildlife Trust says: “2024 was a difficult year in many respects, the charity faced growing financial pressures and a change in legislation meant that we had to change the way we operated.”
“We also continued to limit our operations with regards to avian flu meaning that we were unable to admit seabirds and waterfowl.”
“A sudden influx of animals in July saw us temporarily reduce our catchment area and focus on wildlife within a 10-mile radius of the centre. We had 360 animals on site at the time, many of them requiring intensive care.”
There were two outbreaks of avian flu in poultry and other captive birds in the UK in November 2024 and February 2024.
The spokesperson continued: “It was also a year for new opportunities, we became a 24/7 rescue with a team on site from 6am-12am, and an over the phone advice service operating between midnight and 6am.”
“We also hired our first vet and it has been great having Flic as part of the team. We ran our most successful conference yet, so much so that we have outgrown the village hall we have used for several years.”
Volunteers from the Burnham-On-Sea area also played a big part at Secret World, with over 22,000 volunteer hours in 2024 – an increase of 42 per cent on 2023.
“As we look to 2025 we know there will be challenges along the way, but there are many things we are excited about. We continue to develop our site and devise our 10-year strategy for the charity”, adds the spokesperson.
