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You get the urge to help wildlife in distress, what do you do?

11 Listens got answers from one woman who was eager to rescue injured geese at Beaverfork Park in Conway.

CONWAY, Ark. (KTHV) - It's not uncommon to see wildlife in distress. But what do you do if you feel the urge to help?

11 Listens got answers from one woman who was eager to rescue injured geese at Beaverfork Park in Conway. Every day wild animals are either abandoned, sick or injured.

At Beaverfork Park, one woman said she came across two injured geese and felt something needed to be done. She sent us an email, along with pictures after failed attempts to rescue them.

"They're probably not as helpless as we think and in other cases sometimes it’s best to just let nature take it' course," said Trey Reid, spokesman for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. Reid said touching the animals could be dangerous to humans or cause further injury. “We get calls occasionally about animals that might have some fishing line on their feet. that's a pretty common one with some of the domestic geese around city park ponds,” he said.

It's an injury that could be prevented, so as a reminder, game and fish said there are various recycling stations for fishermen to leave their fishing lines. And while wildlife officials can't respond to every call, there is a list of wildlife rehabilitators on its website for people to contact.

"It will have those rehabilitators broken down by the county in which they live and in some cases the types of animals that work with,” said Reid. Since most wildlife rehabilitators are volunteers it's not always easy to rescue the animals right away.

“They may not be able to get right out there and respond immediately to your call so in many cases it might take several hours it might be the next day,” Reid added.

For a list of wildlife rehabilitators, click here. If you have questions or concerns about something, send us an email 11listens@thv11.com

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