If You Care, Leave Them There This Spring

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Every spring, one danger new born wildlife face is that of being "rescued" by a human. Wildlife officials say in most cases the parent is nearby. Their advice? "If you care, leave them there."

"If you remove a newborn wild animal from the wild, FWP will likely ask you to return the animal to the location where it was picked up," said Ron Aasheim, FWP conservation education administrator.  

Experience shows that most wild young soon reunite with a nearby parent.

Aasheim said confusion occurs because wildlife commonly "cache" newborn animals for safety and to protect them from predators. To the average person it appears the newborn is abandoned.

  "A bear cub, fawn or elk calf, for example, with no obvious signs of injury or distress, in most cases, is just fine where it is," Aasheim said. "Generally, the adult is nearby. The   humane thing to do is to leave the area as quickly and quietly as possible, without disturbing anything."

Even in the case of a young bird falling out of a nest, the bird can be put back in the nest and left there as the adults are normally nearby.

Remember, it is illegal to remove or possess game animals and other creatures such as game birds, songbirds, furbearers or birds of prey from the wild. Fines can be issued for these violations.

For more information about living with wildlife, visit FWP’s Living With Wildlife web page.