“What do we do with it? Can I keep it?” The first words that roll off any tongue when they first lay eyes on that cute baby raccoon as it cries for help. Every year, we have numerous incidents of people keeping wildlife at home trying to rehabilitate (or sometimes domesticate) them. Though this is often done with the best of intentions, it is not in the best interest of the animal.
Home rehabbing was common 30 years ago, as no other resources were available, but today we have decades of professional resources and years of knowledge to keep wildlife healthy, growing, and wild. At GCWR, we work to keep wildlife wild to improve their chances for a successful release back to the wild. We put together the top 5 reasons to never keep wildlife to show the importance of bringing orphaned or injured wildlife to a licensed wildlife rescue facility IMMEDIATELY.
- All wildlife that comes into our care has three things in mind: protecting themselves, fleeing from danger, and their next meal. These are the wildlife skills that keep them alive. Once habituated by humans (even for a few days or weeks) this animal will begin to lose these skills that keep them alive in the wild.
- Unqualified home domestication, even with good intentions, many times leads to illness and death of the animal. Feeding an animal the incorrect diet will lead to malnutrition and disease. This is the most common result we see from attempted home domestication/rehabbing of wildlife.
- Animals that have been habituated by humans will have lifelong behavioral complications that can lead to being categorized as “nuisance animals”. Animals released into the wild that depend on humans for survival become nuisance animals and are typically then euthanized.
- Not only is it illegal in the state of California to keep a wild animal without proper permits, but an animal’s chance of survival DRASTICALLY decreases the longer you wait to bring it in. Wildlife is just that, WILD, please don’t break the law by trying to change that; instead, help us give them the best chance to survive in their own environment.
- Wildlife rehabilitators have access to decades of knowledge in helping local wildlife and professional resources to care for these animals.
Found a wild animal? Please do your part to keep wildlife wild. Bring sick, injured, or orphaned wildlife to a wildlife rehabilitation facility near you immediately.
Have a wildlife emergency? Read here for more information: https://goldcountrywildliferescue.org/wildlife-emergency/
Do you need help finding a rehabber near you? Visit: https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/how-find-wildlife-rehabilitator
