Some fawns were 'accidentally kidnapped' from the wild, says Alberta animal hospital

The Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation says a handful of baby deer admitted to the animal hospital were "accidentally kidnapped" from the wild by well-intentioned people who thought they were rescuing the fawns.

Katrina Terrill, acting executive director for the AIWC, told CBC News the charity and animal hospital is at capacity for deer fawn admissions this year.

"We've had a lot of fawns — or baby deer — some of whom did not actually need to be brought into the hospital in the first place," Terrill said. "So about half of our patients of the eight fawns we've got were accidentally kidnapped from the wild.

"Some person with very, very good intentions saw a baby deer — it was alone — and thought it was orphaned and needed some assistance," Terrill said. 

Deer fawns can be left alone by their mothers for up to six hours at a time, which is perfectly normal behaviour, according to the non-profit agency. However, fawns that are crying, making lots of noise, walking around, or appear to have curled or shriveled-up ears are likely in distress and in need of rescue.

Terrill says accidental kidnappings are one of the biggest reasons the AIWC has to admit animals.

"If a fawn is sitting in the grass very quietly and does not look to be in any distress, the best thing you can possibly do for them is to just leave them be," Terrill said. "And that will help us look after the fawns that desperately do need our help — say, if they have been in a car crash, like one of them has."

To report a fawn that may be in distress and in need of rescue, or to ask questions about deer fawns, call AIWC at (403)-946-2361.

The deer fawns that need help

Terrill says the deer fawns that weren't accidentally kidnapped were in desperate need of care. The AIWC confirmed three of them were orphaned. 

One fawn was brought in because it was walking around a neighbourhood and crying. Another was found with shriveled-up ears and was very skinny and dehydrated. A third was hit by a car and is still recovering from injury.

Terrill notes that because the AIWC is at capacity for deer fawns, the animal hospital will refer any further admissions to other appropriate animal care centres in the Calgary-Cochrane area. 

"But of course we want to make sure that fawns that do not need to come into care anywhere are being left alone in the wild," she said. "Their mothers do a much better job than we possibly could raising them." 

Fawns are at such a high risk of stress when they are first admitted to an animal hospital that they can go into organ failure. Oftentimes baby deer will require intravenous fluids or special diets to prevent their digestive systems from crashing. Terrill says animal hospital staff typically spend two to three hours per day caring for fawns, and it costs about $40 per day to feed them.

The animal hospital's typical capacity is about 240 animals. Currently, the hospital is caring for about 220.

Reintroducing fawns into the wild

The eight fawns recently admitted to the AIWC animal hospital will likely remain in care until mid-September, Terrill says. 

When the baby deer are first brought in, they need to be bottle-fed, which partly gets them used to being around humans. Terrill says making sure the fawns are weaned off bottles, eating food they would normally find in the wild, such as bark and branches, and being scared of humans are challenging but necessary steps to reintroducing them into their natural habitat.

"So we'll go in and bang pots and pans around, we'll make sure that they are scared of humans and not trying to approach them for food. Because when we release them, we don't want them to be used to people," Terrill said. "That's one of the biggest dangers for a deer in the wild, is if they're a little too friendly. The more they are around humans, the higher they are at a risk of getting hit by a car or potentially being hurt by someone's pet dog"

The AIWC doesn't track the fawns it releases. However, it does make sure to release the animals in an area to increase the likelihood that the deer integrate into a herd for the winter. 

"What we will normally do is release them onto a property of someone who we are aware of and who is able to monitor them from a distance," Terrill said. 

She adds the AIWC is always accepting donations to help care for the animals.

Visit www.aiwc.ca to make a donation.