Virginia's Wildlife Center tossed out of Venezuela for doing what hosts asked.

Date published: 4/13/2006

WAYNESBORO--I find myself visiting the Wildlife Center of Virginia often, because you never can be exactly sure what you'll bump into here.

Take last Friday.

On a morning visit there, I split time between an arrow-struck goose and an owl starring in an upcoming TV spot.

By afternoon, Director Ed Clark had detailed how a delegation from the center was put through tense moments fearing for their freedom in Venezuela, before eventually being tossed out of the country by the very military government that invited them.

Though there are always interesting animals recovering at the center, I made the trip to hear from Clark how Venezuelan leaders scuttled the seminar it tasked the Virginia Wildlife Center to create in the first place.

The story began in the '90s, when the Virginia Wildlife Center began getting international attention for its work caring for injured animals, from shaken squirrels to earth-bound eagles.

In 2002, the Wildlife Center of Virginia presented a three-day training program on wildlife medicine and environmental education in Venezuela to officers of the environmental guard, a wing of the military.

Center officials believe that sort of education is critical in Venezuela because illegal trafficking in wildlife is a serious problem there. Birds, primates, mammals and reptiles, including a number of species that are barred from export, are routinely taken from the wild and sold as food or pets.

In addition, many of the birds and other animals that end up on this continent by summer are the very ones who winter in parts of Latin America.

Clark said that after the 2002 training, center officials were asked to develop a more specific educational program for them.

Venezuelan officials wanted a hands-on program for soldiers, most of whom lack formal training on how to safely seize, rescue or transport the array of wildlife found in the illegal trade.

Clark said the center got $125,000 from several sources to publish a field manual on the emergency care of confiscated wildlife and to design training for wildlife first-responders throughout Latin America.

"I went back in 2004 and met with the commanding general of the Environmental Guard to show him a draft of the manual and outline the training we had designed," said Clark. The official said the program was on target and promised cooperation.

A conference date was set for September 2005, at a military facility in Caracas.

Just days before it was to start, the conference was canceled, probably due to a call from religious leader Pat Robertson for the assassination of the Venezuelan president.

Fast forward to the morning of March 27 this year.

Date published: 4/13/2006