Wounded and dead animals

What to do if you come across a wild animal in need or dead.

Rescue Department will help in an emergency

The animal rescue unit of the Helsinki Rescue Department helps pets and production animals in the Helsinki area. As for wildlife, the animal rescue unit only takes care of situations where an animal causes danger or major harm to people or cannot be saved without outside help and aids. In the case of wildlife, call the emergency number 112.

Injured wild animals

The Wildlife Hospital of Korkeasaari Zoo provides treatment for injured wild animals. Rehabilitated animals are released back into the wild. 

Wild animals in need of treatment are admitted every day during the zoo’s opening hours. Korkeasaari Zoo cannot arrange for the pickup of injured animals. Delivery of animals for treatment should be discussed in advance with the staff of the Wildlife Hospital.

Wildlife Hospital contact information(Link leads to external service)

Dead wild animals

Small dead wild animals can be disposed of as mixed waste, if necessary. Large dead wild animals can be reported to the City of Helsinki’s supervising veterinarians:

The supervising veterinarians can be reached on weekdays. 

Dead animals can be sent to the Finnish Food Authority to be examined, if necessary. For more information (in Finnish), please visit the Finnish Food Authority’s website: Wild animals (in Finnish)(Link leads to external service)

If you find large numbers of dead animals in the same area, you should contact a City of Helsinki supervising veterinarian, who will assess whether the cause could be an infectious animal disease.