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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Noted Oregon Naturalist Claimed By Cancer Dave Siddon Founded One Of Nation’s Leading Wildlife Rehabilitation Centers

Associated Press

Dave Siddon, founder of one of the nation’s leading wildlife rehabilitation centers, has died of pancreatic cancer. He was 64.

The naturalist and filmmaker, whose favorite animals included a Montana bear named Griz, died late Thursday at his home.

Early the next morning, wildlife from great blue herons to raccoons continued to get treatment at Wildlife Images Rehabilitation and Education Center as staff and volunteers vowed to carry on Siddon’s work.

Siddon founded Wildlife Images in 1973 at his home along the Rogue River. He and his mostly volunteer staff have nursed countless eagles, hawks, bears, cougars and other wildlife back to health and returned many of them to the wild. During the last half of 1995, the center helped 700 animals.

Griz, the grizzly bear for which Siddon had a special fondness, was injured by a train and arrived at Wildlife Images in 1990, from the Blackfoot Indian Reservation in Montana. The bear gained widespread publicity last winter after he was photographed with a cat he befriended.