Officials: Don't pick up young wildlife

As spring turns to summer, newborn wildlife are beginning to appear in Northwest Montana and state wildlife officials are urging people to resist the temptation to pick up these young animals, even if they appear sick or in need of help.

At the height of the season, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks can receive several calls a day about apparently abandoned fawns, said Libby-based biologist Tonya Chilton-Radandt. But things aren’t always as they appear, she said.

“Generally, the adult is quite close, just not as visible,” Chilton-Radandt stated in a press release.

Left alone, she said, a fawn might have a chance in the wild.

“Even if folks bring an animal to us, we will likely ask them to take it back where they found it,” Chilton-Radandt added.

Earlier this month, FWP Warden Ryan Karren said a California couple traveling through the area saw a new fawn off the road and stopped and picked it up. They transported the fawn in their vehicle for about two hours on the woman’s lap.

“I am sure it was stressing out,” he said of the fawn, which he estimated to be a day or two old. “It most likely did not survive the stress.”

“People mean well,” Karren said, “and they never like it when you tell them that they have actually most likely killed the animal versus saved it.”

Because of concerns about diseases like chronic wasting disease, FWP does not accept deer and will not take them to a rehabilitation facility. If a fawn is brought to an FWP office and cannot be returned to its original location, it will be euthanized, the release states.

In a more high-profile case in Yellowstone National Park last spring, a bison calf was picked up and transported by tourists who believed it had been abandoned. The calf ultimately had to be euthanized because it couldn’t be reunited with the herd and continued to approach people and vehicles.

It is illegal in Montana to possess and care for live animals taken from the wild.

Birds are also better off left alone, the agency states. Once young birds can move around, they spend more time exploring outside their nest and can fall from their perches.

This is natural, wildlife experts say. The young birds can use this time to gain strength and learn where and how to find food. The parents often continue to care for their young even on the ground, so it is best to leave them there and accessible to the adults.

FWP also urges dog owners to keep their pets under control to prevent unnecessary dog attacks on vulnerable young animals. Dog owners can be issued a citation for allowing pets to harass, chase or kill wildlife.