Wildlife

Wildlife Situations in King Township

Avian Influenza Update (March 2025) - King Township reminds residents to avoid contact with sick, injured, or dead wild birds as avian influenza circulates

To improve public safety, King has extended its agreement with Vaughan Animal Services to manage suspected avian influenza cases among wild birds in the Township. Residents are urged to report any sightings of wild birds suspected to be sick, injured or dead as a result of avian influenza to Vaughan Animal Services at 905-832-2281 or via email at animal.services@vaughan.ca.

Birds infected with avian influenza may exhibit one or more of the following signs:

•     Lack of energy or movement
•     Nervousness, tremors, or lack of coordination
•     Swelling around the head, neck, and eyes
•     Coughing, gasping for air, or sneezing
•     Diarrhea
•     Sudden death

King Township has contracted the Toronto Wildlife Centre (TWC) to assist King residents by providing access to expert wildlife advice, rehabilitation of sick, injured, and orphaned wild animals with the goal of returning them to the wild, and trained rescue of animals in dangerous or risky situations.

• If you have a wildlife question or concern between the hours of 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., 7 days / week, please call Toronto Wildlife Centre's hotline at 416-631-0662.  Follow the prompts for more information on how to resolve your situation, or leave a message for the trained hotline team. If your call is urgent, the goal of the hotline team will be to return your call within one hour.  Please allow more time for response to a non-urgent call, especially during spring and summer.
• Please check TWC's website for instructions on how to contain a sick, injured, or orphaned wild animal to keep it safe and quiet while you wait for a call back.
• Between the hours of 6 p.m. and 9 a.m., Toronto Wildlife Centre is closed.  If you find a sick, injured, or orphaned wild animal during these hours, please follow the instructions on TWC's phone system or website www.torontowildlifecentre.com to safely contain the animal and house it overnight.  Leave a message on their hotline, and they will call you back in the morning.
• For general information about wildlife, please visit www.torontowildlifecentre.com . You can also follow TWC on Facebook or Twitter for interesting stories and information about wildlife.

Ministry regulations and guidelines make it illegal for animal control to trap and relocate wildlife from your property.  For additional information, go to the Ministry of Natural Resources Website.

Coyote response and coexistence strategy

For information on coyote response and coexistence strategy, click here.