By Teena Monteleone

Conservation officers urge residents to leave young animals alone

Jun 14, 2017 | 12:00 PM

It’s a simple message to well-intentioned people who want to rescue what appear to be orphaned young animals this time of year  – don’t touch them. 

“Let the young animals stay where they’re at and let the parents take care of them,” Rich Hildebrand with the Ministry of Environment said.

Hildebrand said most of the time the animals are not abandoned or deserted and the mother is nearby watching. 

“If people are around, the adults will stay away. So, don’t feed them. Let them do their natural thing and hopefully the animals will move out of the city as well,” Hildebrand added.

He said anytime a young wild animal comes into contact with humans, its chance for survival decreases significantly. Plus, it is illegal to take wild animals home.

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“Once we start feeding them, there will be more conflicts,” Hildebrand said. “They lose their fear of humans and because they need to feed their young, there could end up being conflicts with pets while the wild animal looks for food.”

Wildlife may carry and transmit infectious diseases such as rabies or West Nile Virus.

Some Prince Albert residents have reported seeing an increase in the number of foxes within the city limits. Recently, a video circulated on social media of a fox family under the Highway 55 overpass. But Hildebrand said conservation officers haven’t noticed anything out of the ordinary and Ministry of Environment biologists feel the fox population is normal.

“It could possibly just be their dens are in a more visible place. They are pretty smart animals and they come here basically looking for a food source and are pretty good at adapting to the urban life in a sense,” Hildebrand said.

The only time a young animal should be picked up is in unnatural situations or if the parent is found dead nearby. Otherwise, conservation officers should be contacted.

The warning from the Ministry of Environment comes on the heels of a viral video from Ontario Wildlife Removal.  In it, the group warns Canadians to look out for out-of-place ‘dead grass’ in their yards which could be concealing newborn rabbits.  The video has been viewed more than three million times.

panews@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @princealbertnow