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WILD FAWN ADOPTION PROGRAM UNIQUE IN NORTH AMERICA |
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Medicine River Wildlife Centre is returning orphaned fawns to the wild and dispelling the age old myth that a lactating doe will not accept an orphaned fawn that is not her own and has been in contact with humans.
Red Deer, AB. April 2014: He was born two weeks premature on the side of a road as his mother was dying from wounds inflicted by a traffic accident – a true orphan. A kind-hearted bystander picked the tiny fawn up and brought him to the animal hospital at Medicine River Wildlife Centre near Red Deer, Alberta and staff immediately went to work.
Fearing the little fawn might not realize what he was; they placed him in an incubator and brought a large mounted deer into the enclosure. He was bottle fed for two weeks with staff being careful not to speak to him or show their faces. When he was well, they knew it was time. A radio tag was inserted in his ear and he was taken out to a meadow and left there. Hidden from site, staff sounded the fawn distress signal and watched and waited. In a few moments a lactating deer ran into the meadow accompanied by another fawn and the baby ran right to its new mother.
For decades scientists and wildlife organizations have been returning orphaned birds of prey to the wild using an adoption process similar to the one described above. But many experts did not believe it could be done with wild deer.
Every spring, 30-60 orphaned fawns find their way to Medicine River Wildlife Centre. Some are truly orphaned and some are mistakenly picked up by well-meaning bystanders. For the past eight years, the centre has been successfully returning these baby deer to the wild. Radio tagging in the past two years has provided concrete evidence that something that many experts believed was impossible is actually working.
“We were told by scientists and some of our peers that this wouldn’t work,” said Carol Kelly, executive director of the centre. “Now we are working to provide evidence that it does. Returning wildlife back to the wild is always the best solution. It’s absolutely magical to watch an orphaned fawn find a new home in the wild.”
BRING THIS STORY ALIVE
Join staff at Medicine River Wildlife Centre and watch as an orphaned fawn is adopted.
About Medicine River Wildlife Centre
The Medicine River Wildlife Centre cares for a variety of wildlife, ranging from orphaned hares and robins to injured eagles and moose – 200 species and close to 1600 patients annually. Each animal is examined, treated and then rehabilitated in line with species specific needs before being released into an appropriate environment. (www.medicineriverwildlifecentre.ca)
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