As temperatures rise, newborn baby animals are more visible in backyards and along hiking trails. If you see what looks like an orphan baby bobcat, coyote, or even rabbit while in your backyard, it probably has parents somewhere nearby.
Officials with Arizona Game and Fish are warning people that not all baby wildlife is lost or has been abandoned. And that by interfering, you could be doing more harm than good.
Lynda Lambert, a spokesperson for Game and Fish, said most of these babies have been left in that specific location by a parent.
“If the animal is not visibly injured or clearly in severe distress, they should be left out there because there’s a way that nature handles this. And that the parent is off and will come back for them,” she said.
Baby birds that have fallen from their nests are the most common wildlife species that are removed by humans from the wild. But Lambert said if you can find the nest, you can put them back. She said contrary to popular belief, human scent will not prevent the parents from returning to care for their young.
