Our Helpdesk

Our HelpDesk volunteers will assist where advice beyond our extensive library of articles is needed, or where a site visitor struggles to find help using our Wildlife Rescue Directory. We appreciate you trying to resolve your query using these resources first where possible.

When open we aim to respond within an hour and typically you’ll receive an email response in about 15-20 minutes. If you prefer to speak to someone by phone or if the HelpDesk is closed, please visit helpwildlife.co.uk/help for guidance and other sources of help.

HelpDesk Availability

Saturday	9:00 - 21:00
Sunday	13:00 - 18:00
Monday - Friday	9:00 - 21:00

It's Saturday 15:47 - Our HelpDesk volunteers are currently AVAILABLE

"*" indicates required fields

What sort of help do you need?*

Advice on whether a wild animal needs help

Finding a rescue for sick/injured wildlife

Advice about unwelcome wildlife

Some general information about wildlife

Something else

Visit helpwildlife.co.uk/advice/assessing for a guide to assessing whether an animal needs help. There you can search our library of over 60 articles covering the most common issues and species. This includes articles about
Foxes with Mange
Limping Animals
When to help baby birds
Birds in Chimneys
Animals caught by a cat or dog
Birds which have flown into a window

How did you get on with checking our advice articles?*

It looks like the animal needs help

I need more advice on whether how to help

With regard to the animal/s you're concerned about, are any of the following true?*

1. They have been caught by a cat, dog, or other predator
2. They have been hit by a car
3. They are collapsed (laying down and unable to stand or finding it very difficult to stand)
4. They have flies buzzing round them or flies have laid eggs on them
5. They are, or have been, caught in netting, a trap or snare, or tangled in fishing line/string

Yes

Ok, they are going to need some help from a rescue.

We publish a searchable directory of over 700 wildlife rescues and rescuers in the UK. This is arranged into two 'tiers' so if you don't find help on the first, please search the second as well. You can search the first tier by going to directory.helpwildlife.co.uk/rescues and the second by going to directory.helpwildlife.co.uk/small-rescues. Please keep in mind that, on average, you're likely to need to travel 15-20 miles to your nearest wildlife rescue, and this may increase in very rural areas or for specialist species. We also have an article which explains in more detail how to find and contact a rescue which you can view at helpwildlife.co.uk/advice/contacting

Have you contacted any of the rescues in our directory already?

If you're confident that the animal needs help, visiting directory.helpwildlife.co.uk to search for a rescue yourself is the quickest way to get some assistance. It may take our volunteers up to an hour to respond.

Yes

Which rescues have you contacted and what was the result?*

(e.g. they are full, there was no answer etc)?
Have you left messages and/or sent a follow up text and waited a couple of hours for a reply?

We have advice articles covering common species and scenarios which you can view at helpwildlife.co.uk/advice/problem-wildlife. If those articles don't provide the information you need, please email [email protected]

Our HelpDesk focuses on urgent issues concerning sick and injured wildlife. We are happy to answer more general questions as well. For these, please email [email protected]

Please only use this form to seek help for sick, injured, trapped or otherwise at risk wildlife. For anything else please go to helpwildlife.co.uk/contact-us.

Ok, let's get you some help from our volunteers. Some important things to note before you proceed...

Please tick to confirm you understand the following caveats*

This is an email service only - we cannot provide support by phone.

Phone numbers should not be included in the form for data protection reasons.

Sometimes our replies go into junk/spam. Please check for them there.

We offer advice and help you locate rescue help - we cannot 'dispatch' a rescue to you.

Name*

First Last

Email*

Enter Email Confirm Email

Subject*

Please provide a short summary of the issue e.g hedgehog out in the day, bird flew into a window. 250 character limit, please provide more detail in next field.

Describe the issue in more detail*

Tell us more about the issue you need help with. Can you see any injuries on the animal? Do you have them contained in a box?
NB: We are not able to return phone calls. For data protection reasons please do not include your phone number.

What is the postcode of where the animal is?*

This will help us to locate rescues in the area for you to contact if needed.

Please attach a photo or video

It helps us to give you the right advice if we can see the species, stage of development and general demeanour of the animal you're contacting us about. Please send larger files such as videos separately to [email protected]

Max. file size: 64 MB.

Your data and privacy*

I have read and accept HelpWildlife.co.uk's Privacy Notice

See HelpWildlife.co.uk/policies