Guidance: Wildlife incidents on campus
This page provides guidance on what to do in different situations. Before taking action, please remember always follow the guidance below and avoid handling wildlife unless there is an immediate risk to the animal or to public safety.
Dead wild animals on campus
Please report sightings of dead animals on campus on Invida ResolveLink opens in a new window by selecting "New Ticket>Waste & Recycling>Deceased Animals". You're also welcome to let us know what species you found (e.g. hedgehog run over by a car on Gibbet Hill Road, What3Words location ___) by emailing sustainability@warwick.ac.uk.
If you spot a dead wild bird off campus, please also report it at to aid the monitoring of Avian Flu.
Have you noticed dead bumblebees around lime trees? implies that it is due to a natural phenomenon. These observations need not be reported via Invida. Please note that the current is to NOT place sugar water out as it can harm not only the bees but other wildlife as well.
Injured wild animal or an abandoned baby animal on campus
Unfortunately, the University do not have the expertise or the resources to help injured or abandoned wildlife found on campus. However, there is a wealth of relevant information available online, such as from the and .
- For injured bats only, please contact the directly.
- For assistance with hedgehogs, please contact . For general FAQs and further contact information please visit
- For any badger-related information and advice please contact the relevant local badger group via and visit
- For injured swans, please visit for further information and contact details.
- For grounded swifts, swallows and house martins please contact Follow instructions in on how to safely handle the birds until a "swift taxi" collects them.
- For advice on how to help a baby bird, please see .
Please feel free to let us know what you found, where, and who took the animal from you by emailing us on sustainability@warwick.ac.uk, to enable us to keep a record and aid the future monitoring of the wildlife on campus.
Wild animals in a building
Whilst we do not have the resources or the necessary equipment to tend to incidents with wildlife in campus buildings, there are a lot of guidance available online to assist with the safe resolution of the issue.If there is a bird in a building, the best practice is to open as many windows and doors as possible to allow them to leave on their own accord. It is also recommended to darken the rest of the room so that it is more obvious to them where the escape routes are. Birds often have hollow bones to aid flying and thus their bones can break very easily. They can be gently guided towards the opening but should not be manhandled or caused to panic so that they'd fly against something at high speed. For more information, including advice on birds trapped in awkward places, please visit .
Other wildlife such as mammals, e.g. grey squirrels, can get extremely aggressive when trapped and so, if they don't leave through the open windows or doors on their own accord, please report the issue on : Create New Ticket > Estates Maintenance > Pests.