The Wildlife Center of Virginia is pleased to announce that Dr. Karra Pierce has been named as Director of Veterinary Services.
Dr. Karra has been a member of the Wildlife Center’s staff since 2018 and has served since September 1 as Interim Hospital Director.
Dr. Karra grew up on the west coast of Canada, near the city of Vancouver. She graduated in 2013 from the University of Victoria with a Bachelor of Science in biology. During her time as an undergraduate, she started working as a staff wildlife rehabilitator at a large wildlife rehabilitation center, where she fell in love with wildlife rehabilitation and wildlife medicine. Following her undergraduate degree, Dr. Karra attended the Western College of Veterinary Medicine with the goal of becoming a wildlife veterinarian. During this time, she continued to dedicate herself to working with wildlife, which included a six-week veterinary externship with the Wildlife Center of Virginia. She fell in love with the organization and its mission and planned to return as soon as possible.
After receiving her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 2017, she did a one-year small-animal rotating internship at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, with the goal of strengthening her emergency, medical, and surgical skills such that she could apply them to a career working with wildlife.
Dr. Karra loves teaching interns, veterinary students, and wildlife rehabilitators from all over the world about wildlife rehabilitation and wildlife medicine. Her professional goals are centered around advancing the profession of wildlife rehabilitation and learning as much as she can from the thousands of patients that come through the Wildlife Center’s doors each year.
Last year, the Wildlife Center admitted 3,727 patients — a wide array of sick, injured, and orphaned wild animals and the highest caseload in the Center’s 38-year history. Dr. Karra looks forward to continuing to provide high-quality care for injured wildlife and training students and interns for years to come.
According to Wildlife Center President and Co-founder, Ed Clark, “We are delighted to have Dr. Karra at the helm of our world-class veterinary program. She exemplifies the expertise, dedication, and passion for wildlife health for which our entire wildlife care team, and our entire organization, are so well-known.”
