About Us
Welcome to the
Yggdrasil Urban Wildlife Rescue
& Education Center website!
The Yggdrasil Urban Wildlife Rescue (YUWR) and Education Center is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization located in Oakland, California. We are dedicated to the rehabilitation of orphaned and injured wildlife living in urban city centers and education of the public about how to live harmoniously with our cities’ wildlife. We serve the cities of Oakland, Piedmont, Montclair, Berkeley, and Alameda in the State of California, USA.
When an injured or orphaned wildlife mammal is found, we nurse these animals back to a healthy state where they are able to be released back into the wild. Through education to children and adults alike, we try to raise awareness of these wild residents of our cities in the hope that a better co-habitation will lead to less injuries/orphans and more enjoyment of the urban wildlife with which we share our cities.
We operate exclusively on donations, and on the profits from our fund-Raising store.
About Our Mission:
To heal the sick and injured/orphaned animals brought to us and ready them for release back into our Urban Wilds.
To educate people of all ages in the wonder and enjoyment of wildlife and nature and why it is so vital we protect it.
To teach patience and compassion so that urban wildlife is viewed in a more positive light by everyone- not as pests, but as important co-habitators of our environment.
About Our Name:
Yggdrasil is the name in mythology for the “World Tree”.
The legend is that the World Tree’s branches reach across the Universe. One branch supports the earth and another supports the heavens. The roots are also far-reaching; one into the Underworld, one into the land of Giants, and one into the land of Man.
At the top of the tree perches an eagle. a Snake gnaws at it’s roots. 4 stags live in it’s middle branches. And up and down its trunk travels Ratatosk, the Squirrel. Ratatosk is the errand runner and mischief-maker. He carries messages from the Earth goddess to the Sky god and from the Eagle to the Serpent at the base of the tree. By living in Yggdrasil’s branches they nourish the World Tree, and in turn, the tree nourishes them.
Without the cradling branches of the world tree the Universe would fall. Each of us support its Branches and Yggdrasil supports us all.