Mark and Martha Pokras achieved fame in their  former South Jersey home as the "bird doctors of the Pines." If anyone found an animal in distress, from sickness or injury, the immediate response was to call the Pokrases. Initially, the couple was trained by two local county veterinarians until they felt comfortable working alone. Soon their work was recognized by state and county game officials, and they cleared fifteen acres of Pines land near their home in the vicinity of the Brigantine Wildlife Preserve. The two also worked as marine biology instructors at Stockton State College in Pomona.

Over six years, they housed more than 800 birds of different species, as well as two especially beloved guests, Cinderella the racoon and Whoo the owl. Later, the Pokrases set up an avian rehabilitation center in the area.

Mark Pokras is now the director of the Wildlife Center at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine of Tufts University. His wife, Martha, has served as Dean of the Cummings School and still holds an executive position there. The Pokrases are now gaining recognition once again in their Massachusetts home. Mark still cites his beginnings along the Garden State Parkway. He explains that one day while driving on the highway he noticed an injured hawk and was frustrated that no one had helped and that he later could not find a vet to assist the bird.

At the wildlife center there is no predicting what animal Pokras will treat next. But his focus still remains on birds. For the last two decades, he and his colleagues have been researchng lead poisoning in birds. Thanks largely in part to the efforts in activism led by the Pokrases, there are now strict regulations on the sale and use of lead fishing sinkers in Vermont, New York, Maine, and New Hampshire.

Pokras' Wildlife Clinic treats about 1,500 patients each year. However, out of the various species he has met, Mark Pokras still believes that the smartest patients are ravens. To date, the biggest patient he has treated was a 1,000 lb. polar bear and the ruliest, the weasel.