Conservation News
Leave wildlife in the wild
"Adopting" wildlife may seem like an act of kindness, but it can be ruinous for both adoptees and their human guardians.
JEFFERSON CITY-What is the best thing you can do for wildlife you think has been abandoned? �Nothing. �Biologists with the Missouri Department of Conservation advise against attempting to rescue baby animals believed to be orphaned. Doing so often causes the animals' demise.
The Conservation Department receives hundreds of calls each spring from people who find birds, raccoons, opossums and a variety of other juvenile wildlife "abandoned." �Conservation Department biologists say that in most cases nothing is wrong, and human intervention is inappropriate.
Birds often grow too large for their nests before they are able to fly. They fall or jump out, and parents continue to bring food for them on the ground. �"Rescuing" a young animal from this situation is likely to result in its death. �Most people aren't equipped to supply young animals' dietary needs. �And removing an animal from the wild - even if you return it later - increases the chances its parents won't be able to find it.
Similarly, people who report "orphaned" fawns may not understand that white-tailed deer don't stay with their young 24 hours a day. �Quite the contrary, fawns spend most of their time alone until they are old enough to keep up with their mothers. �This protects fawns - which have practically no odor of their own - from being detected by predators that scent the doe.
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