As the wildlife refuge institutes are starting the busy intake season, the staff wants to remind the public to leave baby animals alone.
As the wildlife refuge institutes are starting the busy intake season, the staff wants to remind the public to leave baby animals alone.
“Often people think they are helping but you can do more damage to the animal by picking it up, ” said Katie Dundon, wildlife rehab technician at the Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation (AIWC).
The biggest temptation every spring/summer season is the baby hares, Dundon noted.
Baby hares are left by their parents during the day and can appear to be orphaned or abandoned but are actually not.
“People are always trying to help but hares are so nervous if they are picked up they often die and their success rate in captivity is low, ” Dundon said.
While hares are most at risk, staff discourages the public from disturbing or picking up any baby animals, including nests and eggs.
“Don’t interfere with anything, just leave everything on its own, ” Dundon said.
If someone does find an orphaned or injured animal, they are encouraged to call the specialists at one of the wildlife refuge institutes. The person can wait with the animal but should not feed it.
On hot days residents can put out a shallow dish of water for wildlife, if they are concerned but should make sure the dish is shallow so smaller animals do not drown, Dundon said.
Spring is always a busy season for the wildlife refuges, as animals are coming out of hibernation and starting to have babies.
The Cochrane Ecological Institute (CEI) staff said they are starting to take in an animal a day and it will only pick up from there.
Staff from both of the institutes encourage the public to call if someone thinks they have stumbled across an orphaned, abandoned or injured animal. Wildlife refuges in the Cochrane area include AIWC and CEI.
AIWC is located 30 minutes northeast of Cochrane, near Madden, and can be contacted at 403-946-2361 or go to aiwc.ca for more information.
CEI is located about 25 minutes northwest of Cochrane, and can be contacted at 403-932-5632 or go to ceiinst.org.
