{"id":345369,"date":"2026-06-03T20:49:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T20:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/345369\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T20:49:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T20:49:09","slug":"project-wildlife-successfully-rehabilitates-and-releases-orphaned-weasel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/345369\/","title":{"rendered":"Project Wildlife successfully rehabilitates and releases orphaned weasel"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/sdhumane.org\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">San Diego Humane Society\u2019s<\/a> Project Wildlife program announced a rarity Wednesday: the rehabilitation and release of an orphaned long-tailed weasel.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The tiny patient was found alone on a trail in Riverside County on March 20, with her eyes still closed. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cCaring for a mammal this young and this rare requires precision and expertise,\u201d SDHS Wildlife Veterinary Manager Alexis Wohl said in a statement. \u201cBecause we so rarely see this species, every milestone \u2014 from the first time she successfully ate on her own to open her eyes  \u2014 as a major victory for our team and local biodiversity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The animal was the first long-tailed weasel admitted to the organization\u2019s care, according to Humane Society officials.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Upon arrival at the <a href=\"https:\/\/sdhumane.org\/programs\/project-wildlife\/wildlife-help-hub\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">SDHS\u2019s Bahde Wildlife Center,<\/a> the weasel was in critical condition, requiring specialized care and feeding around the clock. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Treatment included daily medication for ringworm, which proved tricky as caregivers worked hard to prevent the animal from habituating to humans. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After ten days of intensive monitoring, the weasel reached a major milestone when her eyes finally opened.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To ensure she remained wild, she was transferred to the organization\u2019s Ramona Wildlife Center. There, she was housed in a small-mammal habitat designed to help her develop the skills needed to survive on her own. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After 70 days in care, the Project Wildlife team determined the weasel was strong enough for release. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two days later, she was released to the wild in the Ramona area.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/timesofsandiego.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Long-tailed-weasel-26-1937_release-photo4.jpeg?ssl=1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Long-tailed-weasel-26-1937_release-photo4.jpeg\" alt=\"A successfully rehabilitated long-tailed weasel runs free after being released by the San Diego Humane Society. (Photo courtesy SDHS)\" class=\"wp-image-386158\"  \/><\/a>A successfully rehabilitated long-tailed weasel runs free after being released by the San Diego Humane Society. (Photo courtesy SDHS)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Long-tailed weasels are versatile predators who play a crucial role in the ecosystem by controlling rodent and insect populations. Though found throughout North America, they are difficult to spot due to their speed and nocturnal habits.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anyone who finds an injured, sick or orphaned wild animal can visit sdhumane.org\/wildlifehelp or call (619) 299-7012.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The San Diego Humane Society\u2019s Project Wildlife program announced a rarity Wednesday: the rehabilitation and release of an&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":345370,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[41546,141780,46547,6523,74,76,16578,75,141781],"class_list":["post-345369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-biodiversity","tag-long-tailed-weasel","tag-project-wildlife","tag-resilience","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-humane-society","tag-san-diego-news","tag-wildlife-rehabilitation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=345369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/345370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}