Leave Wildlife in the Wild

Why is it always best to leave wildlife in the wild? Below are just a few reasons!

• Take a moment to understand that your good intentions in picking up a baby wild animal could actually cause harm to you AND the animal. Understand that wild animals are born to live their lives in the wild.
• A baby wild animal’s best chance for survival is with its mother.
  Wild animals are born to live their lives in the wild, not in a house or a cage.
• The best option for a wild animal is to learn normal behaviors from their own species in their natural environment. An animal that has become habituated to humans cannot be returned to the wild.
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  Once they grow, wild animals are active and independent, which can make them dangerous and destructive.

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  Wild animals can be highly stressed by sights, sounds, and smells from people and pets, especially when in close proximity. Stress can cause health problems and even death.

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  Wild animals have complex nutritional needs not easily met in captivity. Nutritional deficiencies can leave an animal deformed for life.

• Wild animals can carry diseases and parasites, some of which are transmissible to people or pets. Some diseases, like rabies, can cause serious health problems.
• Feeding wildlife (such as ducks, geese, raccoons, etc.) can cause them to lose their fear of people, and even expect food from humans and become aggressive.
• Adult wildlife also teach their behavior to their offspring, and young animals may not develop the basic skills to find sustenance on their own.
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  Feeding wildlife can also unnaturally gather them to one location, which then causes diseases and parasites to spread more quickly, as well as concentrates waste material.