Why You Should Never Feed Wild Animals
Seeing wildlife up close is one of the most exciting parts of exploring nature, and you might be tempted to feed the animals to tempt them to come closer. This is why you should never feed them however you like.
Feeding wild animals not only harms them from eating what they should not eat, but also causes long-term harm that affects their behavior and may put them at risk. Here’s what can happen:
- Attraction to places where people live : When animals get used to being fed by humans, they congregate in places where people feed them, such as campgrounds, boating areas and tourist spots. This can cause normally lonely animals such as sharks to become territorial when crowded into a smaller area.
- Increased aggressive behavior : Animals may become more accustomed to humans and associate them with light food, which can cause wild animals to act more aggressively towards humans than usual. Personally, I’ve even had seemingly harmless animals like birds that get scared when they chase me just to kiss my sandwich.
- Injuries caused by human food : Many animals do not digest human food well, so eating the food we throw away or food leftovers from a picnic can cause disease in wild animals.
It can be hard to remember right now that feeding wild animals has a long-term effect on them and their environment, but your actions can help them survive longer in their natural habitat.
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