Be careful when walking: How to protect young wild animals!

Be careful when walking: How to protect young wild animals!

Simonsfeld, Österreich - Spring not only brings new life into nature, but also a growing danger for many young animals. Every year, countless of them, often false, are picked up by walkers. "Again and again we get calls of worried people who find apparently abandoned young animals," emphasizes Alexios Wiklund, press spokesman for the Austrian Animal Welfare Association. But this is rarely necessary because most young animals, like the field hares, are housed in securely hidden nesting sites and are regularly supplied by their mothers. Alfred Kofler, the head of animal care at the Assisi-Hof, explains that field bunny mothers deliberately hide their young in flat underwear, so-called sacles, to protect them from predators.

important rules of conduct for nature lovers

In the current setting time of the brown hare, which lasts from February to October, special caution is required. Hiking and staying in nature attract more and more people, but the young wild tier is particularly sensitive during this time. The older ones among us should stay on the paths, lower the noise level and leashed dogs because they could get dangerously close to the young animals. The animal welfare association warns against touching supposedly orphaned young animals, as human smell can lead to the parents breaking them back. This is how the survival of the animal children is at risk, because "wild animals are not pets," recalls the state hunting association and warns of the devastating consequences of human intervention.

A particularly impressive case is the Hasenjunge found in Simonsfeld, which was on a horses without a mother and in direct danger. After contacting the animal welfare assistants, the young animal shows itself "on a good way" and will soon be moved to a Wildlife station before it will finally be released into freedom, so Kofler in a conversation with noe.orf.at . Such incidents illustrate how crucial it is to behave in nature and to let the wild animals the necessary space and protection that they urgently need to survive, as well as the