Veterinarians at the Washington State U. College of Veterinary Medicine say removing a fawn from the wild is never a good idea and may have some costly consequences to both the fawns and humans.
Charles Powell, spokesman for the College of Veterinary Medicine, said the issue is people bringing animals home or to animal shelters when they do not understand the condition of the fawn.
He said deer does and fawns often sleep in separate places, meaning an isolated fawn is not necessarily an orphaned one. The does graze and sleep separate from the fawn to increase the chance of the survival because the fawn is less likely to be discovered by a predator. Often, the doe will be watching the fawn, even if the fawn appears to be abandoned.
“The reality is that any healthy fawn picked up by a human that has not witnessed the fawn’s mother falling victim to an accident, such as an encounter with a motor vehicle, is being abducted, not saved,” said Ruth Wolz, a University of Idaho employee who wrote to The Daily Evergreen about the problem.
Powell said once taken, most people will either try to care for the fawns themselves or take them to the veterinary college or an animal shelter, and but none of these options are good for the baby.
Caring for fawns is expensive for the state, and if they are brought from Idaho to Washington, the college must euthanize the fawn for disease control and protection, said Nickol Finch, chief veterinarian for WSU’s Exotic and Wildlife Animal Section, in a press release.
“While we certainly can take care of them, they are wildlife and it is costly,” Powell said.
He said it costs the state about $1,500 dollars per fawn.
In addition to the high costs associated with the caring for a fawn, abducted fawns often do not have a good chance of surviving once they are returned to the wild. Powell said 85 to 90 percent of the fawns that end up with a rehabilitation center do not survive the first year.
“After we handle and feed a fawn for several days, they become imprinted to humans and likely cannot return to the wild … even if they are transferred to a wildlife rehabilitator and are eventually released, it is arguable that they do not recognize humans as a threat, and most will become nuisance wildlife or be taken easily in the next hunting season,” Finch said.
Most veterinarians agree the best thing to do when one sees a lonely fawn is to leave it alone.
Finch said even if the fawn is abandoned, the reality is they serve as a natural part of the food web and will provide a meal for predators, scavengers and microorganisms that feed on the newborn babies.
Powell said that many people will pick up the animals out of a sense of responsibility, but they need to accept that the animals need to be left alone.