Like many historical (or perhaps more appropriately, prehistorical) activities, the precise origin of the practice of humans helping wild animals is impossible to determine. It may be epistemically risky to speculate about prehistory and the habits of prehistoric peoples, but archaeological evidence suggests that most direct human–nonhuman encounters, if non-neutral, resulted in death, injury, or domestication. To the extent that such apparently altruistic acts as are the subject of this work occurred in pre-modern times, however, they were likely isolated cases resulting from arrangements lacking a strong organizational structure. This organizational structure is still in the emergent stage for wildlife rehab.