Hessilhead heartache as Scotland's wildlife rescue hospital has to turn away injured animal

Last month – for the first time in its 43-year-history – the rescue centre had to turn an animal away (a grey seal pup), recognising they had finally run out of room.

Despite quickly finding capacity again, Hessilhead founders Andy and Gaynor Christie know more seals will come.

Atlantic grey seals matter, here in Scotland, because – both globally and by number – they are rare. As a result, they are one of the few UK animal species of international conservation importance. Nearly half of the world’s grey seal population live in British and Irish waters – with 90% of these here in Scotland.

Yet beyond the tireless day-to-day seal rehabilitation efforts of the Christies and their team, there is a deeper story across the decades that Andy – Scotland’s first ever countryside ranger – and Gaynor, have spent at the coal-face of wildlife rescue.

Theirs is a valuable first-hand account of the changes in Scotland’s wildlife populations. Shifting seasons and habitat encroachment has seen some species numbers plummet since the Christies took in their first animal in the 1970s – an orphaned fox cub nursed back to health from their council flat in Lochwinnoch.

This extraordinary couple tell which of our birds and animals they believe are now becoming vanishingly rare, and why what they do – and what we can all do – matters so much for the future of Scotland’s wild creatures.

Mowgli, the poorly grey seal pup, is settling nicely into his hospital pen – in an enclosure that had, until recently, been a storage cupboard.

All around him are more convalescing seals – some needing antibiotics, heat lamps, and pungent fish soup to help them gain weight – others splashing around together in a succession of small swimming pools.

But this scene of young seals everywhere you look has become the ‘new normal’ at Hessilhead since last November’s Storm Arwen wreaked devastation at the height of pupping season.

Record numbers of Atlantic grey seal pups that survived the initial gales are still, months later, being brought into the centre by volunteers – after being found injured, alone and starving on beaches.

“They come in really weak, weighing 11kg, and we really need to get them to 30kg if they have a chance of surviving out at sea,” says Gaynor, who co-founded the wildlife rescue centre with conservation expert husband Andy in 1979.

“Grey seal pups need to fatten up quickly and learn to fish. What’s been surprising is how many that are still coming in to us.

“These last few months have brought in the largest number of seals we’ve ever had – double what we would normally see. Many of the seals that did survive the storm are now struggling because they didn’t build up the fat reserves”.

The influx of pups has been so unprecedented that Andy and Gaynor had to reluctantly recognise they had run out of room and turn away a grey seal.

“It was an emotional decision,” says Gaynor, 75. “I think Andy found it hard. In all our years, there’s never been a single animal or bird that we’ve not taken in.

“But we’d reached capacity. We doubled up some of the pups in pens – where that was safe for them – but some seals have parasites that need treating and they need their own space.

“Seals are highly intelligent animals and we had to put our existing animals’ welfare first.”

Thankfully, the ban on new seal patients lasted only a few days. A few pups were strong enough to be released back into the sea, enabling the hospital, in Beith, North Ayrshire, to accept new patients.

Atlantic grey seals matter in Scotland because – both globally and by number – they are rare. In recognition of this, a new bill has this month been introduced into the UK parliament aiming to make seal disturbance illegal, following a rise in fatal dog attacks.

As one of only two wildlife hospitals in mainland Scotland that can accommodate seals, the Christies, together with their team of six staff and volunteers, work tirelessly to get these animals back to a healthy weight to survive release back into the Atlantic or the North Sea.

But rehabilitating so many seals – 45 in the past three months, with 33 still living at the centre – has accrued costs that now threaten to swamp Hessilhead’s finances.

“The average stay for a seal is ten weeks,” explains Andy. “Many of the first seals that came in still had their white fur coats, needing more care and attention.

“Then some seals have dog bite wounds or injuries. They transition from a pen to one of our pools; from hand feeding to then being able to take – and hopefully catch – a fish themselves.

“With the cost in fish, medicine and care being around £100 a week, rehabilitating the average seal pup costs us around £1,000.”

The pups need human-grade herring, chomping through, collectively, more than 20 boxes of 20kg fish a week. They also need to build up swimming skills – by endlessly ducking and playing together at one of the centre’s four pools – before they can be released.

This reintroduction to the sea happens mostly at Portencross Beach, in West Kilbride, with seals swimming off towards Arran.

Running Hessilhead, which accepts wildlife patients from as far away as Uist and Inverness, costs £200,000 a year.

Yet Andy and Gaynor – who, along with their team, work from dawn to dusk (or all night if needed) – now need to find another £30,000 to cover the costs of so many starving seals.

But for those pups that they do rehabilitate, the survival chances are high.

Researchers who’ve tagged hospital-treated grey seals in the past have found that they typically range further afield than other seals, clocking distances of up to 1,200 miles to haul-out sites.

Nearly all the unwell grey seals at Hessilhead are brought in by a network of trained volunteer medics from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue charity.

Medics – who work all over Scotland and the rest of the UK – are specialists in assessing a vulnerable seal’s condition. Members then organise driving relays to transport the animal to Hessilhead or the Scottish SPCA centre at Fishcross, Alloa.

“Without Hessilhead Wildlife Rescue Centre, many seal pups would not survive – which could be devastating to their population,” says BDMLR coordinator Corinne Gordon.

“We are so grateful to Hessilhead for caring for all the seals we rescue and take there.”

As well as seals, Hessilhead treats an astonishing array of animal and bird species – with 70% of their patients rehabilitated and released back into the wild.

The rescue centre is an enchanting sprawl of more than 50 enclosures and aviaries, built by the Christies themselves, or volunteers.

As well as the seal unit, there is a hospital housing bird patients undergoing treatment – while even the couple’s dining room in their small on-site home has been converted to an office full of treatment notes.

Currently they are treating around 100 hedgehogs, otters, deer, badger and fox cubs and also harbour seals – together with birds of every conceivable species.

Yet beyond the day-to-day efforts of the Christies and their team, there lies a deeper story crafted from the decades that Andy and Gaynor have spent at the coalface of wildlife rescue.

Born in Aberdeen, Andy, 80, became Scotland’s first countryside ranger, before meeting geography teacher and naturalist Gaynor at a country park, while working for Nature Conservancy – now NatureScot.

The couple’s first wildlife rescue was an orphaned fox cub they named Fred, and nursed back to health from their flat in Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire.

“To be honest, we made a mess of rearing him as a wild animal,” says Gaynor. “Back in the '70s there weren’t manuals or any advice, really, on how to raise a wild animal. And there were things we did then that we wouldn’t do now. Fred lived to 15 – but he was completely tame.”

Gaynor adds: “At the time, Andy was giving a lot of talks about protecting wildlife. So he became something of a local authority on all things to do with wild species. Word got around and people started showing up with injured birds and animals.

“It was too much for our council flat so we moved to a cottage on a run-down estate that had stables we could use for animals. After that, we tried a farmhouse up the glen in Heathfield, Renfrewshire.

“By this stage, we were taking in all sorts of small birds. We hand-reared three badger cubs that would follow us everywhere. We wouldn’t allow that now.

“Nowadays, when wildlife comes in, we try to find out as much as possible about the territory they were found on – and then try to replicate that here.

“We learned early on that every animal or bird is an individual. Every day we endeavour to treat them that way.”

The couple nursed back to health so many animals injured in road accidents that in 1979, they accepted that if they were going to continue to help wildlife – they needed to do it properly.

Their last move was to Hessilhead, establishing Scotland’s first dedicated wildlife rescue centre.

Hessilhead grew almost entirely from word of mouth, becoming a charity in 1986. The couple and their staff now have a huge repository of knowledge – enabling them to identify injuries and strap them up themselves.

But they also follow strict protocols for animal care and have weekly visits from vets.

“Our most common patients are probably hedgehogs,” says Gaynor.

“And road-traffic affected deer. In an average year, we care for about 20 fox cubs and even pigeons, who – even though they’re not the most popular birds – can be great survivors.”

Three weeks ago the centre was handed a pigeon with a huge unexplained swelling.

“We don’t like any suffering here,” says Gaynor. “So that pigeon underwent a hernia operation – which I think is a first here in the UK.”

One of the rarest species the hospital has seen was a Scops Owl that had been hit by a car before being treated and released in Kilmacolm, Renfrewshire – in the first record of the bird in mainland Scotland since 1944.

Then, three years ago, there was an Ivory Gull – an incredibly rare bird that normally spends its life on sea ice. And a beaver – found injured at Loch Lomond – having escaped from a zoo.

Yet of all the species they have saved, Andy confesses he loves otters the most.

“I’ve hand-reared probably 20-30 otters,” he says. “My favourite was an otter called Rumpus. He came to us, 20 years ago, covered in maggots.

“He was tame, but we had him living wild at the end. Rehabilitating him was time consuming but rewarding. He would respond to my whistle and jump into my arms to dry himself. He was a lovely animal.”

As the gentle pair talk with great pride for the valuable work they have done, they also speak of the changes to Scottish wildlife numbers they’ve seen over the years.

“We get far more animals from road-traffic accidents these days,” notes Gaynor. “Probably because there are more cars on the road – or because we have encroached on these animals’ environment more”.

“There is also the fact that the seasons are a bit messed up. Birds are nesting earlier, and then there is often a late frost or snow which causes problems

“We’ve seen a decline in many of the insect-eating birds – tits and house-martins. We used to see so many starlings – but hardly any now.

“And kestrels – we just don’t see them like we used to. It used to be that young boys in Glasgow took a young kestrel for the summer and tried to tame it. A lot of them were discarded when school started – and ended up on our doorstep.

“Thankfully, people have a different attitude now, but we barely see kestrels at all any more.

“I’ve noticed some positive changes, but also at the same time signs of an intolerance of wildlife. Of people not understanding that it is us who are encroaching on their spaces”.

Gaynor adds that the passing years have also brought some uplifting developments, with many people showing a drive to protect wildlife.

“Many people are now gardening for wildlife, which has been fantastic. And there have been increases in otters and buzzards.

“And if we put in a request on Facebook, for help driving an injured animal to us, it’s amazing how people will often drive for hours to help.”

The dedication of Andy and Gaynor – who, at an age many people would retire, still dedicate almost every hour to the hospital – is undeniably inspiring.

Sadly, Hessilhead misses out on many grants and financial support schemes – mostly because they are regarded as an ‘animal welfare’ organisation rather than a conservation charity. They survive on their savings, local support, membership schemes and legacy payments.

The centre also normally holds one fundraising open day a year. But they push back against more – despite the increase in grants it would bring – because Hessilhead is, fundamentally, a hospital, with vulnerable patients that would be stressed by more human interaction.

When asked why they work to save even the smallest animal or bird, Andy says: “When we started this, no-one in Scotland was taking in wildlife. And so much of what we have now is becoming vanishingly rare. We’ve got to protect what we’ve got. With the grey seals, for example, they’re so important to our ecosystems. Helping wildlife matters. Wildlife can teach people, wildlife inspires people.

“If I could do something impossible,” he smiles, “it would be to go back a couple of hundred years to see all the birds that were here – before it became too late for us to enjoy it.”

Outside, it is feeding time again for the grey seals. Watching these seals return to health – before being released into the wild – is one of the most uplifting sights in a year short of joyous moments.

Andy looks across at the pups playing in the pool and smiles – happy to have found more room at the inn for seals in need of help.

HOW TO SUPPORT HESSILHEAD:

To donate to hessilhead rescue centre - https://www.justgiving.com/hessilheadwildliferescue

Please visit https://www.hessilheadwildlife.org.uk/ for information on animal and bird rescue and news. Hessilhead Wildlife Rescue can be contacted on 01505 502415