{"id":859849,"date":"2026-09-25T06:00:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T06:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/859849\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T06:00:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T06:00:11","slug":"wildlife-groups-rescue-animals-as-gilbert-drains-lake-at-freestone-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/859849\/","title":{"rendered":"Wildlife groups rescue animals as Gilbert drains lake at Freestone Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

GILBERT, AZ \u2014 Local wildlife groups are rescuing and relocating animals as Gilbert drains the lake at Freestone Park<\/a> for renovations.<\/p>\n

Tasha Ellsworth, a volunteer wildlife rehabilitator, said East Valley Wildlife and Crystal\u2019s Critter Haven<\/a> have collectively taken in more than 30 animals during the effort.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re working to help the domestic ducks that are here, as well as now the sick ducks that need intervention and whatever turtles are needing saving as well,\u201d Ellsworth said.<\/p>\n

The effort initially focused on finding new homes for domestic ducks and helping relocate other wildlife as the lake was drained. Ellsworth said that changed after sick ducks began showing up.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it went from a placement situation to a rescue,\u201d Ellsworth said.<\/p>\n

Ellsworth said rescuers have also found dead fish in shallow water at the park. She said botulism is one possible cause of illness among the ducks, but testing is still pending and the cause has not been confirmed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re thinking it might be botulism. We\u2019re not sure. We\u2019re waiting on testing,\u201d Ellsworth said.<\/p>\n

Gilbert Parks and Recreation Director Michael Elliott said the town had a wildlife plan in place<\/a> for the renovation. The plan included relocating turtles, while waterfowl were expected to move to other water sources as the lake drained.<\/p>\n

Elliott said concerns raised by community members led the town to work more closely with wildlife groups during the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t profess to have all of the answers, but we\u2019ve found value in collaborating with the community and with some of those wildlife experts who have way more subject matter knowledge than we do,\u201d Elliott said.<\/p>\n

Elliott said crews were working to finish draining the lake and remove water from a nearby retention basin. He said removing the remaining water should encourage waterfowl still at the park to move to another water source.<\/p>\n

Elliott said Gilbert will use lessons learned at Freestone Park as it prepares for similar lake renovation projects in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are always going to be opportunities to improve on a project and collaborating with the community and getting their input and getting their feedback and building upon the plan that we have already in place,\u201d Elliott said.<\/p>\n

For Ellsworth and the other volunteers, the immediate focus remains on helping animals that need assistance.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause they need help,\u201d Ellsworth said. \u201cWe\u2019re here to help them.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information on how to donate, click here<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GILBERT, AZ \u2014 Local wildlife groups are rescuing and relocating animals as Gilbert drains the lake at Freestone…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":859850,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[79,201],"class_list":["post-859849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=859849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/859850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=859849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=859849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=859849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}