News Release

Limit animal handouts to the zoo; keep wildlife wild

September 25, 2008
Contact: Jessica Basham, 850-410-4943

If you feed wild animals, you're asking for trouble. That's the message from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

"You're creating a hazard for yourself, your neighbors and the animals," FWC biologist Anni Mitchell said. "It's a thrill to have animals eat from your hand, but you need to limit that experience to captive animals."

Feeding wildlife can cause animals to become a nuisance and can be harmful to their health, according to FWC wildlife biologists. Most importantly, it can interfere with their natural survival instincts.  FWC officials said feeding wildlife does not help animals and may actually harm them. Also, it is illegal in Florida to feed certain animals, including sandhill cranes, bears, raccoons, foxes, alligators and others. 

Wild animals that get food from human hands will start losing their fear of people and their natural ability to hunt or forage for food on their own. They may become aggressive when they get hungry and do not get fed. 

In addition, the balance between food sources and wildlife populations is delicate.  In the wild, animals produce as much young as the food source can sustain. If other unnatural food sources become available, such as human handouts, animals may produce more offspring, and that overloads the availability of natural food sources, according to FWC experts. 

"If natural food sources become scarce or are no longer available, animals may starve," Mitchell said.
Fed animals may be "lured" across roads to artificial foods sources, risking dangerous encounters with vehicles. 

Sometimes, humans unintentionally feed wild animals.  Pet bowls, bird feeders or garbage cans with loose lids can attract animals and cause the same loss of natural instinct as feeding them intentionally, Mitchell said. 

"Urban sprawl may put humans and wildlife in direct contact, but it's best to enjoy wild animals from a distance," FWC bear biologist Stephanie Simek said.

The FWC has a few suggestions:

• Store pet food inside and feed pets inside.
• If you must feed your pet outside, remove the food dishes and any spilled food immediately after feeding.
• Use bear-proof garbage containers and set them out the morning of pick-up, not overnight.
• Remove or relocate bird or squirrel feeders that contain grain, corn or suet blocks.
• Secure chicken coops, rabbit cages, bird pens, etc., with electric fence.

"By not feeding wildlife and by following these guidelines, humans can keep wildlife wild," Mitchell said. 

For more information about Florida's wildlife, visit the Wildlife and Habitats section of MyFWC.com.