The Peninsula Humane Society's new wildelife center is now caring for its first round of orphaned baby wildlife this spring: 10 goslings and 10 ducklings.
The humane society is housing the animals at its new Center for Compassion, located at 1450 Rollins Road in Burlingame, spokesman Scott Delucchi said Wednesday.
The animals, which include week-old Mallard ducklings and two-week-old Canada Goose goslings, could be released back into the wild within five to eight weeks.
The ducklings were rescued after they fell in a storm drain near the Bank of America on El Camino Real in San Mateo, Delucchi said.
The mother duck, who had been staying in the area, left during the rescue effort. The humane society rescue officer stayed with the ducklings for more than an hour – hoping the mother would return.
When she didn’t, the officer took them to the Center for Compassion so as not to leave them at or near this high traffic area. The ducklings were immediately placed in a warm incubator.
The goslings were separated from their mother in San Francisco near Baker Beach after a dog began harassing them, according to Delucchi.
A citizen brought them to San Francisco Animal Care & Control, which transferred them to the Peninsula Humane Society. PHS/SPCA cares for sick, injured and orphaned wildlife from San Francisco through northern Santa Clara County.
Annually, PHS/SPCA releases between 1,200 and 1,500 wild animals back into their natural habitat after providing rehabilitative care. Species include owls, hawks, geese/goslings, ducks/ducklings, songbirds, seabirds and all our area’s mammals.
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