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OGDEN -- Northern Utah's only wildlife rehabilitation center found a new home Sunday. The facility will house close to 1,600 birds this year.
The rehab center was a part of the Ogden Nature Center before it closed down its bird facility in March. For the past few months, directors weren't even sure if they'd be able to keep the center going. Now they have a facility, and Sunday was moving day.
Volunteers helped move all the caged birds. The Wildlife Rehabilitation Center cares for all types of injured birds, from hummingbirds, to owls, to hawks and eagles. All are native to Utah. With this larger facility, they'll be able to house non-natives, on occasion, if they're badly hurt.
The facility is 3,000 square feet, and although it's temporary, it's much larger than its last location. Buz Marthaler, with the center, said, "We were in a cramped, small, little closet, we called it. So this space, as you can see, we're filling it up pretty good."
It's an older building in Ogden, but it's made especially for animals. The organization was promised a new facility two years ago, but it fell through.
And in another blow, the Ogden Nature Center decided to close down its bird center in March because of funding, so the Wildlife Rehab Center was created in its place.
It's completely nonprofit, and now it's the only rehab center in Northern Utah.
Last year, the Ogden Nature Center helped nearly 1,600 birds, most of which would've been euthanized if not for their help.
"We're badly needed here in northern Utah. We're the only facility in northern Utah that does everything from hummingbirds to eagles," Marthaler said.
The Ogden mayor's office donated a plot of land for their outdoor enclosures
Right now, the center needs volunteers and donated items.
E-mail: ngonzales @ksl.com
