What Happens to Animals & Wildlife After a Hurricane

Oct 13

While humans can prepare and evacuate, animals are often left to face the brunt of the storm. After the hurricane passes, animals—whether pets, livestock, or wildlife—experience displacement, injury, loss of habitat, and changes in behavior.

Understanding what happens to animals after a hurricane is crucial for improving rescue efforts, providing care, and aiding in the recovery of natural habitats.

In this article, we’ll explore how hurricanes impact pets, farm animals, and wildlife, and what can be done to help them recover.

Pets

Unfortunately, many pets are left behind when their owners evacuate during hurricanes, often due to restrictions at shelters, lack of transportation options, or inadequate preparedness. Pets left in homes or yards face numerous risks, including:

Exposure to severe weather: High winds, heavy rain, and flooding can cause pets to drown, suffer from hypothermia, or get injured by flying debris.
Fear and disorientation: Loud noises, changing barometric pressure, and chaos cause many pets to panic. They may hide, making it difficult for rescuers to find them.
Limited food and water: Pets left behind often lack access to clean water and food, which can quickly lead to dehydration, malnutrition, and health issues.
Overcrowded shelters: The influx of lost and abandoned pets can overwhelm local shelters, leading to overcrowding and the need for out-of-state transfers or emergency shelters.

Pets Who Evacuate with Their Owners

Families that evacuate with their pets face fewer immediate dangers, but the stress of evacuation can take its toll:

Anxiety and stress: The chaos of evacuation, coupled with being in unfamiliar environments such as evacuation centers, can make pets anxious or fearful. This anxiety can lead to temporary behavioral issues.
Health risks in crowded shelters: In close quarters with other animals, pets are at a higher risk of contracting contagious diseases like kennel cough or gastrointestinal illnesses.
Post-storm adjustment: Returning home to damaged or unfamiliar surroundings can lead to behavioral changes in pets, such as separation anxiety, aggression, or clinginess, as they adjust to the aftermath of the storm.

Farm Animals

Farm animals, such as cattle, horses, chickens, and pigs, are often at high risk during hurricanes due to their large numbers and reliance on human care. Farmers may evacuate with their livestock, but more commonly, these animals are left behind in barns or enclosures. After a hurricane, farm animals face a range of challenges, including:

Injuries and Death

Flooding and drowning: Low-lying farmland is often vulnerable to flooding, and trapped animals may drown or suffer from exposure to contaminated floodwaters.
Structural collapse: Barns, pens, and shelters can collapse under the force of hurricane winds, potentially injuring or killing livestock.
Displacement: Free-roaming farm animals may wander far from home, making recovery efforts challenging.

Health Risks Post-Hurricane

Waterborne diseases: After a hurricane, stagnant water becomes a breeding ground for bacteria and parasites, putting livestock at risk for diseases such as leptospirosis.
Inadequate food and water: Farmers may struggle to provide clean water and food for livestock in the aftermath of the storm due to damaged infrastructure, contaminated water supplies, or washed-out roads.
Injuries and infections: Cuts, bruises, and wounds caused by debris or the collapse of structures can quickly become infected if not treated.

Animal rescue organizations, along with government agencies, assist farmers in rounding up lost animals, providing veterinary care, and ensuring livestock has access to clean water and food. Large-animal rescue teams may be deployed to help evacuate or relocate displaced livestock.

Wildlife

Hurricanes have a profound and often long-lasting impact on wildlife. Natural habitats are destroyed, food sources are depleted, and animals are displaced or injured. The recovery of ecosystems and wildlife populations can take years, depending on the severity of the storm.

Habitat Destruction

One of the most immediate and widespread impacts of hurricanes on wildlife is the destruction of habitats:

Forests: Trees are uprooted or snapped, leading to habitat loss for birds, small mammals, and insects. The loss of tree canopy also exposes animals to predators and makes nesting more difficult.
Wetlands and marshes: Coastal wetlands are often inundated by saltwater storm surges, which can disrupt the delicate balance of freshwater ecosystems. Animals like amphibians, fish, and waterbirds may be displaced or killed as their habitats are temporarily or permanently altered.
Coral reefs and marine environments: Hurricanes stir up sediment in the water, damaging coral reefs and disrupting marine ecosystems. Sea creatures such as fish, crustaceans, and turtles may struggle to find food and shelter after a hurricane has disturbed their environment.

Many wildlife species are killed or displaced during hurricanes. Birds, for example, may be blown off course or into dangerous areas where they struggle to find food or shelter. Small animals such as squirrels, rabbits, and reptiles may drown in floodwaters or be killed by flying debris. Other wildlife faces the risk of being injured or stranded in the aftermath of a hurricane.

Birds: Birds often flee in the face of hurricanes, but storm winds can throw them off course, sometimes carrying them hundreds of miles from their natural range. Birds that survive the storm may return to find their nesting sites destroyed.
Marine life: Sea turtles, fish, and marine mammals may be washed ashore or stranded in shallow waters as storm surges push water inland. Some species may suffer from oxygen depletion or habitat destruction in coastal areas.
Land animals: Larger mammals like deer or wild boars may flee to higher ground, while smaller species like amphibians, reptiles, and rodents may drown or be displaced.

Wildlife populations can take years to recover after a hurricane, particularly if their food sources or breeding grounds have been destroyed. Key challenges include:

Limited food and shelter: The destruction of habitats means that animals often face food shortages and competition for limited shelter.
Disruption of breeding cycles: For species that breed during hurricane season, storms can disrupt nesting sites or wipe out entire generations of young animals.
Invasive species: Hurricanes can spread invasive species to new areas, which can further disrupt native wildlife populations and ecosystems.

Recovery and Assistance Efforts

Pet and Livestock Recovery

Organizations such as the ASPCA, Humane Society, and local animal rescue groups often deploy teams to help rescue and care for pets and livestock after a hurricane. Recovery efforts typically include:

Rescuing stranded animals: Teams search flooded homes, barns, and fields for animals that may be trapped or lost.
Providing food, water, and shelter: Emergency shelters are set up to house pets and livestock until they can be reunited with their families or returned to farms.
Veterinary care: Injured animals are treated for wounds, dehydration, malnutrition, and illness caused by the hurricane.

Wildlife Assistance

Wildlife organizations work to rehabilitate injured animals and restore habitats after hurricanes. Key efforts include:

Wildlife rehabilitation: Injured or displaced wildlife is taken to specialized centers where they receive care before being released back into the wild.
Habitat restoration: Conservation groups work to restore damaged ecosystems by replanting trees, rebuilding wetlands, and repairing coral reefs.
Monitoring populations: Wildlife biologists monitor populations to assess the long-term impact of hurricanes and help implement conservation strategies to ensure species survival.

Hurricanes pose a serious threat to animals, both domestic and wild. Pets, livestock, and wildlife are all vulnerable to the destructive force of these storms, facing injury, displacement, and death. While rescue and recovery efforts help mitigate the immediate dangers, the long-term impact on habitats and animal populations can be profound. As climate change increases the frequency and intensity of hurricanes, it’s crucial to continue improving disaster preparedness for animals and enhancing recovery efforts to protect both pets and wildlife from future storms.