The Mission
Restore's creation
Restore was created to close the gap between wildlife rehabilitation and post-release monitoring.
During my years working in wildlife rescue centers, post-release monitoring was often one of the most difficult aspects to develop due to limited funding, lack of personnel, and the many responsibilities involved in rehabilitation work. Yet this stage is essential in order to understand whether rehabilitation has truly been successful.
With Restore, the goal is not only to improve post-release monitoring and wildlife survival, but also to train and inspire the next generation of conservationists who will help protect the future of our planet.
Our Monitoring & Research Methods
Post-Release Monitoring
Post-release monitoring will primarily be conducted using LoRa tracking technology and base stations. Each year, one or two rehabilitated animals will be equipped with tracking devices to collect daily movement and survival data.
Animals will also be visually monitored once or twice a week in order to assess:
- Body condition score.
- General health.
- Adaptation to the wild.
- Survival after release.
Depending on the species, veterinary health checks and recaptures may be performed every 3 to 6 months to ensure the long-term wellbeing of the animal and evaluate rehabilitation success.
Camera Traps & Thermal Drone Surveys
Camera traps and thermal drone technology will be used to survey wildlife populations and habitats. These methods help us:
- Identify species living in the area.
- Estimate population numbers.
- Locate suitable release sites.
- Study existing wild populations.
These technologies will allow you to learn modern wildlife monitoring techniques used in conservation fieldwork around the world.
Behavioral Observation & Ethograms
Direct observation of wild/rescued individuals — Using camera trap, binoculars or naked-eye to study behavior in detail.
Students will participate in creating ethograms, pre-release protocols and activity budgets by observing:
- Feeding behavior.
- Movement patterns.
- Social interactions.
- Mating behavior.
- Hunting or predator avoidance.
- Habitat use.
- ...
The goal is to better understand how healthy wild individuals behave in their natural environment, allowing rehabilitation protocols to be adapted so that rescued animals develop behaviors as close as possible to their wild counterparts before release.