Young animals
Young animals are often left alone by their mothers for many hours. In the first few days of life, the parents only come to clean and suckle so as not to attract natural enemies to the young. The young are observed from a safe distance by the parents.
If the young are touched and thus carry human odour, they are often no longer accepted by the mother.
If an injured, sick, helpless or apparently abandoned animal is found, it should therefore be thoroughly checked whether the animal is really in distress.
Before any action is taken to help a young animal, the apparently helpless animal should be observed for some time. This must be done at an appropriate distance and in such a way that the mother animal can return undisturbed. For this purpose, the place where the young animal was found and its immediate surroundings must not be entered for at least one day. If the young animal is alone for more than one day or appears to be weakened, sick or starving and if no parent animal is actually looking after the young animal, it may be taken into human care.
In this case, the responsible specialised authority must be informed via the authorities' number 115 or it must be checked whether the animal can be cared for itself.
As a general rule:
Wild animals, even apparently abandoned young animals, must not be fed or touched and must not be taken home!In case of uncertainties and questions:
Not every young bird that appears to be in need of help and left alone at first glance needs human support. Rushing to help often does them more harm than good. The finder is often unable to assess the situation correctly, which is why many young birds are unnecessarily separated from their parents.
When the offspring of some bird species leave the protective nest, they are not yet able to feed themselves. Outside the nest, the young are then fed by the adult birds for a longer period of time until they have become completely independent.
Usually well protected, the young birds wait patiently outside the nest to be fed. The young birds have quite a lot of stamina in their often pitiful-sounding calls for food. If a young bird is found in this situation, it easily gives the impression of being abandoned. As a rule, however, the adult birds are simply looking for food at this moment. The breaks between feedings can be quite long, lasting more than an hour. It is not uncommon for the offspring to consist of several young birds, which are also scattered in different places waiting for food.
However, if there is any doubt as to whether the adults are looking after the young, it is important to observe from a reasonable distance and unnoticed by the adults over a longer period of time to see whether the young are really no longer being fed.
It should also be borne in mind that the first attempts to fly are very strenuous. The young birds have to rest again and again between the individual flight stages. They will not fly away immediately when people approach. If the young birds are in a danger zone (vehicles, cats and pedestrians), it is sufficient to take them out of this area and place them slightly higher up in a nearby bush or hedge. However, the young birds must not be moved too far away from where they were found so that the parents can still hear the begging sounds of their offspring.
In contrast to other young wild animals, such as deer, hares or rabbits, the birds can be handled without worry in such situations. Human odour is almost irrelevant to the adult birds. If, after continuous observation over a longer period of time, it is actually determined that feeding is no longer taking place, the Lower Nature Conservation Authority must be informed.
If there is sufficient expertise, time and suitable accommodation, it is permitted to temporarily take the young bird into care without contravening the applicable nature conservation regulations. Once the bird has become independent, it must be released back into the wild.
Further information
in the brochure "Animals in Chemnitz"
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