Wildlife Warriors: A day in the life of the South Florida Wildlife Center (includes photo essay)

By
Juan Aguirre Saravia, Daniel Suárez, Tomas Horcada and Valerie Diez
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To watch the accompanying documentary, click here. To listen to the accompanying audio story, click here.

Volunteering at these non-profit organizations furthers the goals and provides support that would otherwise be impossible due to budget limitations.

Each morning, the South Florida Wildlife Center receives boxes full of fruits and vegetables to be prepared for the animals.

The preparation for each animal’s meal varies as well as the ingredients. The size of the cuts varies depending on how big the animals are and in which phase of life they are.

Over 20 plates are prepared for the squirrels.

Due to FDA regulations, the management of animal food should be separated from the human food.

FDA regulation states that “the by-product for use as animal food is separated from the human food, the human food by-product for use as animal food is only subject to the limited requirements found in Section 507.28 for its holding and distribution.”

After an hour of preparing the food, it is placed in the cart to be transported inside the facility.

At South Florida Wildlife Center, volunteers and interns work in synchrony to contribute to conservation efforts. Teamwork is crucial to benefit the lives of these animals.

Squirrels approximately eat 20-25g per day, a similar weight of 8 pennies.

Florida is home to 3 species of squirrels: The Eastern Gray Squirrel, The Fox Squirrel, and The Southern Flying Squirrel.

Although this is Arealle’s fourth time volunteering, she knows that squirrels become more elusive when they see food, so she must act quickly.

Squirrels are known for their agile climbing abilities and their diet, which primarily consists of nuts, seeds, fruits, and occasionally bird eggs or insects

The Eastern Gray Squirrel is the most common squirrel species found in South Florida.

Workers try to spend less than one hour interacting with the animals per day, so they do not lose their wild instincts.

Volunteers shifts start at 9 a.m. and end at 12 p.m. and they do not have a specific weekly schedule.

Juan Aguirre Saravia is a college student from Buenos Aires, Argentina who is majoring in Digital and Interactive Media and Communication. He's currently engaged in a digital internship at Inter Miami CF in which he's determined to fuse his digital skills with his passion for 'fútbol,' aiming for a career in the digital landscape of this sport's world.

Daniel Suarez is a Digital TV and Multimedia Production student at FIU. He was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela and has a passion for sports and the world of production. He likes to edit videos from his trips and create photogenic compositions wherever he goes. In the future, he aspires to work on television as a producer and at the same time contribute or create alternate projects that exploit his creativity to the maximum.

Tomas Horcada is a junior Digital TV + Broadcasting student at Florida International University. He was raised and born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, until 2017 when he moved to Weston, Florida. He loves his home country Argentina, but his biggest passion is soccer. His dream is to become a Soccer Journalist, and get to cover the biggest event in the world of sports, The FIFA World Cup.

Valerie Diez is a junior Digital Communication and Multimedia Production student at Florida International University. She was born and raised in Venezuela where she began her career for Audiovisual Communications. In later years, she moved to Miami and obtained an associate degree in Communication Arts from Broward College. She enjoys any kind of fine arts and learning about other cultures through different forms of entertainment. Her goal is to combine visual design and informational media as she firmly believes that images and words complement each other.

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