Karen

Wood Duck

Our mission at Humane Indiana Wildlife & Rehabilitation Center is to rehabilitate wildlife and release them back to their natural environment, once they’re healthy and are capable of surviving on their own. In some cases, however, due to injuries sustained before they were brought to us, it would not be safe to release them to fend for themselves. Fortunately for Humane Indiana Wildlife, some animals remain in our care and become wildlife ambassadors. They help us provide wildlife education through our wildlife talks in our community, throughout the state, and during our kids camps.

In the fall of 2022 Humane Indiana Wildlife admitted a Wood Duck that had been raised by the public. The duck was not initially friendly with staff, but our team was able to release it with several other wood ducks raised at our facility. Within 3 days the release site property owners let us know that one of the wood ducks was following people on trails and even going into nearby neighborhoods. Once back to the rehabilitation center, we spent some time with the duck, and despite her sassy attitude, we found she was certainly not afraid of people. The wood duck's attitude earned it the name Karen. After several months in our care, we were in for a surprise when Karen the wood duck molted to reveal it was actually a male! Karen now lives at our Wildlife Center permanently and enjoys meeting people that come here for programs.