Saving birds for more than 18 years

We want every bird to get proper care when it is injured or ill, and the rehabilitation grounds to be a safe refuge for wild fauna.

History and milestones

2006
The centre is founded
Viktor Shelvinskyi starts the first raptor rehabilitation initiative in Lviv, laying the foundation of the future centre.
2007 – 2020
Expanding the facilities
The first large round flight aviaries for raptors are built, along with a medical room and a quarantine area.
2014 – 2024
Birds from the war zones
The centre becomes a key refuge for birds evacuated from the east and south of Ukraine after shelling injuries.
2024
National animal protection award
A prestigious award from UAnimals for a significant contribution to rescuing and preserving Ukraine’s biodiversity.

UAanimal 2024

National animal protection award

Mission and areas of work

Every hryvnia and every hour of our work goes towards saving the lives of birds and raising environmental awareness in Ukraine.

Rescuing birds
Taking in injured birds from the public, and search operations in emergencies.
Help for war casualties
Veterinary care and rehabilitation for birds from the war zones.
Education
Educational programmes in schools and seminars about wild animals.
Social rehabilitation
Programmes helping people recover psychologically through contact with nature.
Developing rescue methods
Improving veterinary protocols and innovations in treating birds.
Sharing knowledge
Joint practical work and involving ornithologists from abroad.

A dedicated team

The people behind the daily professional care and ornithological supervision.

Viktor Shelvinskyi
Founder, veterinary ornithologist
A veterinary ornithologist who specialises in treating and rehabilitating wild birds, with more than 23 years of experience in ornithology. He works at the State Museum of Natural History of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and is a member of the West Ukrainian Ornithological Society.
He graduated from the Stepan Gzhytskyi National University of Veterinary Medicine and Biotechnologies of Lviv, Department of Veterinary Medicine.
In 2024 he received the UAnimals Animal Protection Award.
He is interested in birds and art.
"Every problem should be approached creatively"
Yuliia Shelvinska
PhD in biology, zoologist
She leads the centre’s research. She is responsible for individual diet plans and the adaptation tests done before a release.
"Science and love for living things have to walk side by side"
Mariia Martsiv
PhD, zoologist
PhD, assistant lecturer at the Department of Zoology, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv.
Research focus: the trophic ecology of carnivorous mammals.
"Science is for the mind, dance for the heart, travel for the soul. I live to study, to share and to marvel at the world."
Hanna Kuzo
Environmental education project coordinator
She coordinates environmental education projects in 12 protected areas of the Carpathians (Frankfurt Zoological Society).
She volunteers on ornithological expeditions and took part in ornithological research during her postgraduate studies at the State Museum of Natural History in Lviv.
From 2017 to 2019 she coordinated the BirdID Ukraine project. Since then she has kept teaching birdwatchers to identify birds and bringing volunteers into citizen science projects.
Iryna Medvedieva
Biologist, ornithologist, ecologist
She graduated from the Faculty of Biology of Ivan Franko National University of Lviv.
Since 2014 she has worked at the Institute of Ecology of the Carpathians of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, in the Department of Ecosystemology.
For more than three years she has studied the impact of the war on birds and the natural environment, and how birds adapt to human pressures. For more than three years she has also worked with the University of Rzeszów (Poland) and is active in international scientific cooperation: she organises and takes part in conferences and presents research on the war's impact on biodiversity at scientific forums abroad, in popular science publications and on international radio.
She is a member of the West Ukrainian Ornithological Society (ZUOT) and the Polish Society for the Protection of Birds (OTOP). She is an author and co-author of publications in Biology Letters, the European Zoological Journal and National Geographic.
As a wildlife photographer she specialises in birds. Her work has been shown many times at photo exhibitions in Ukraine and Poland.
An active volunteer, she helps rescue wild birds and stray animals and supports volunteer initiatives for the military.
"The greatest happiness in life is the ability to see and appreciate the beauty of the world"