About Wildside Exotic Rescue

“success is that wildside’s services are no longer needed”

About Wildside

We have been rescuing wild non-native animals since 2010. Today WildSide Exotic Rescue is home to over 200 animals across 38 different species, from multiple continents.

Since 2010 WildSide has been self-funded with minimal public presence. This website, associated social media and establishing WildSide as a not-for-profit company is to secure the long-term future of WildSide and deliver changes to the Wild Pet Trade. This dual goal has meant that our existence has to become public, so here we are.

However, places like WildSide, are not the solution. We also risk becoming part of the problem if people think that it is okay to have a wild animal because if it doesn’t work, we can always pass it on to a wild animal rescue centre.

The trade in wild animals as pets is a tap turned on and it’s getting worse. This tap needs to be turned off, and locked in the off position, as opposed to us putting bigger and bigger buckets under the tap to catch the mess and misery that the wild animal pet trade causes.

How WildSide started

Aged eight I watched the film “Born Free”. That was it. That night my diary entry was “the rest of my life I will help animals” My childhood, with sister Tracey, was filled with animals, our own, and caring for other people’s when they were ill or on holiday. Our parents said as long as we cared for them completely and paid for them (hence the business of looking after other peoples’ animals), we had their blessing.

Setting up an animal rescue centre was never the dream or the plan. I was intent on conservation work, supporting projects focused on protecting habitats from human encroachment and destruction and enabling humans to live peacefully alongside wildlife without annihilating them. For twelve years I helped fund and worked on a great project in South Africa, run by wild life film maker Rob Harrison-White. Then back in the UK I met a grubby, cold, scared, thin Racoon in a metal carrier box in a cold dark garage. I promptly relieved the owner of the Racoon, buried my fury and disgust, and drove home with all the windows open, telling the very scared animal that he would be okay for the rest of his years. The second thought was how to get Mr Racoon passed the husband (a skill I have since perfected) and into an enclosure.

Unfortunately, the UK is home to a lot more Mr Racoons, of all species, shapes and sizes. Eventually the numbers coming into WildSide made managing it alongside a career and conservation projects impossible. So, every moment of every day, and many nights, is now a WildSide moment.

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Our mission

We’re a not for profit C.I.C sanctuary for wild captive animals traded and kept as pets,
that rescues and rehabilitates those in need and
inspires humans to end the wild pet trade.

Wildside Credentials

Not for profit Community Interest Company (C.I.C)

In 2024 WildSide Exotic Rescue was established as a not-for-profit Community Interest Company (CIC).

At heart, a CIC is shaped and driven by its community purpose, which is set out in its constitution. A C.I.C has a feature called a statutory asset lock, which makes sure that assets are only used for the purpose for which the organisation was established to fulfil. So, if ever we stopped doing what we are doing we are legally obligated to pass any assets onto a similar organisation with a similar not for profit purpose. This provides reassurance that all donations and support received will be dedicated to the welfare of animal rescues.

BIAZA

In 2022 WildSide successfully passed inspections to become an Accredited Associate Member of BIAZA. Biaza stands for The British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

This is a great way for WildSide to access expertise and benefit from inspections and advice.

BIAZA’s purpose is to bring together the best zoos and aquariums in Britain and Ireland to create a better future for the planet and its inhabitants. We drive excellence in animal welfare, conservation, education and research, demonstrate our members’ value to society, and use our collective expertise and voice to influence policy and champion positive behaviours.

Dangerous Wild Animal License (DWA)

Since 2012 we have held a dangerous wild animal license (DWA). Find out more here

In 2022 WildSide successfully passed inspections to become an accredited associate member of BIAZA

Why are places like WildSide needed in the UK?

“We take an animal, that in the wild, would be fully capable of accessing food, creating dens, finding a mate, bringing up young, migrating thousands of miles. We stick them in a cage, often alone, render them dependent on us, then neglect their most basic needs”

It is mad and cruel how easy and legitimate it is for anybody in the UK, often with no checks or balances, to purchase and own a long list of non-native wild animals. Animals, whose needs are often complex, costly and rarely met in a typical domestic set up. From our direct experience the owner’s purchase is often with little thought or research into the animal’s needs. Many times, we have gone to collect an unwanted animal to find a totally different species than the owner believed they owned.

The UK Government’s primary focus is the safety of humans if one escaped and the negative impact of non-native animals, if released into the countryside, on native species, then any concern for the welfare of captive wild animals. Wild animals in captivity have no voice in the UK, no support network and minimal legislative protection. It is even hard for people keeping non-native wild animals to find a vet willing and able to treat them.

Even if the owner provides a great home for their wild “pet”, what happens if their circumstances change and they can no longer keep the animal? You cannot roll up and leave a Racoon or a Mountain Lion with the RSPCA or the local dog and cat shelter and most Zoos will not accept unwanted wild “pets”. So where do these animals go when the owner can no longer keep them? The answer is often nowhere and euthanasia is the tragic end to many unwanted or homeless wild animals traded as pets.

This is why places like WildSide are currently needed.

Success is that WildSide’s services are no longer needed.

Principles – with passion and no buts

Captive life can never replicate life in the wild, but for the animals at WildSide most have been born caged in the UK, so a return to the wild is neither feasible nor legal.

Given they are forced to remain in captivity we try as hard as we can to give them as much ownership over their own lives as is possible in a captive setting.

Choice

Each species has the choice to be inside or outside, in the sun or in shade, in water or on land, with their group or alone. The animals here can make day to day and minute to minute choices that are not dependent on a human being to execute.

Enrichment

Enrichment. Enrichment is integral to the quality captive life experience of wild animals. At WildSide it is offered through many means, including 1) complex and spacious enclosures 2) other animals 3) having to work to access and find food 4) visual and sensory stimulus 5) enrichment toys and puzzles.

Peace & Privacy

Animals are not exhibited, having to endure multiple strangers invading their territory and impacting their privacy and peace.

Stress Minimised

Capture and constraint for reasons of moving an animal, medical attention or husbandry is managed through species specific methods designed to ensure minimum stress and human engagement. For dangerous large cats we sedate with a dart gun as this delivers the least stress if they need sedation for an operation.

Wildness Respected

Wild animals are not petted or handled unless required for husbandry, or essential movement. If an animal determines that they want positive contact and interaction with a human, and it is safe to do so, it is provided.

Species Specific Requirements Met

Enclosures are designed around species specific requirements, enabling species to exhibit their natural behaviours, whether swimming, sunbathing, being high up a tree on look out, digging, foraging or playing amongst vegetation. The right temperature and light levels are provided so that the basic environmental needs of each species are met.

The Right Social Set Up Provided

The animal enjoys the right social set up appropriate to their species. If a solo animal arrives that needs to be part of a pair or group then a suitable mate(s) are sourced and in the wait time alternate companionship or near presence of other appropriate species is provided.

Wild Like Varied Diets

Diets are provided that are as close as possible to the wild diet with variety to enrichen a captive existence.

Rigorous Healthcare

Routine husbandry, specific to the species, is implemented to ensure health and well-being e.g. internal and external parasite control, hoof trimming, nail clipping, diet supplements. An ill animal receives comprehensive diagnostics and treatment.

No Breeding

Except in exceptional circumstance, or when an animal arrives pregnant, we do not breed here. The prevention of a natural and significant part of an animal’s existence is balanced with the desire to minimise the number of wild non-native species born caged, with a lifetime in captivity. This also ensures resources are focused on those already captive.

Quality Of Life Not Quantity

With compassion and respect for each animal here those who become seriously ill with severe pain and poor prognosis for recovery are peacefully put to sleep.

The Best We Can Be

We constantly strive to be better informed and equipped to give the animals the best possible care. We constantly access fresh research, alternate perspectives and expert input.

The Team

Lindsay

Founder

I live and breathe animal welfare. Driven and task focused, a machine with a heart but no stop button. Love managing projects, which is fortunate as I create a ton of them. Out with the animals 7 days a week up to 14 hours a day.

Adrian

Builder

Ade arrived to work on a short project in 2018 and never left. Ade is responsible for building most of the enclosures you will see at WildSide, often starting a project with no more than a Lindsay sketch and excited conversation about the end result. Plus, he is great with creative thinking, problem solving, plumbing, electrics, butchery, fencing, animal handling, managing me in a crisis and way more. He continues to smile and nothing is too much trouble.

Carly

Animal Carer

Carly joined us in 2022 and what an addition! Carly’s passion for animal welfare is massive. Creative with enrichment tools for the animals, and always coming up with great ideas for improvement. Every task is competently and efficiently accomplished. Carly is also small enough to crawl through the lion tunnels, dog flaps, and brings unbeatable energy and commitment.

Freddie

Groundskeeper

Freddie is the latest and youngest addition to the WildSide team. His focus is on managing the land and gardens, fencing repair and large animal cleaning. Like the rest of us Freddie also turns his hand to anything else that needs doing. He is already leading Ade a stray with pints in the evening.