Never feed wild animals.

Feeding a wild animal is doing it more than one disfavor. Such behavior renders at least these thee disfavors:

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First Disfavor: It habituates the animal to human food.

Many wilderness animals learn readily to like human food. Included on the list are bears, raccoons, pikas, squirrels, marmots, deer and some birds.

Human food is like junk food to these animals. It is addictive but not necessarily good for their systems. Most of us know that feeding our dogs and cats human food is not the best for the health of our pets. So why should we think that feeding wild animals is an okay thing to do?

Second Disfavor: It alters the natural foraging instincts of the animal.

This disfavor is closely related to the first disfavor we do to wild animals when we feed them. These Animals have natural instincts for finding food that is good for them and that will sustain them. In the North American wilderness, in addition to day-to-day nutrition, many animals, to survive the winter, must either gather stashes of food or, like bears, store their food as body fat.

Such innate behaviors can be disrupted by a dependence on receiving human food. This to the detriment of the animal with regard to health and survival.

Third Disfavor: It habituates the animal to humans.

This disfavor works in two ways. It can contribute to a danger to human beings. And it can contribute to a danger to the animal itself. This is especially true in the case of bears
A bear that bocomes habituated to human food and humans turns into a dangerous animal.

Bears have a natural fear, or perhaps it is a simple aversion, to human beings. But, when bears get used to eating human food, the attraction to such food supplants the fear.

Bears and humans in close proximity are a recipe for disaster. Bears that become dangerous to humans run the grave risk of being killed by rangers and other wilderness authorities for the sake of the safety of humans. Putting these animals, in their own habitat, in such danger is unfair and downright irresponsible.

Two ways of feeding wild animals: The direct way and the indirect way.

The direct way to feed the animals, obviously, is to deliberately offer them food whether they are small and cute like pikas or large and potentially dangerous like bears.

The indirect way to feed the animals is to be careless about how you handle your food even though you have no intention of feeding animals. Carelessness in food handling comes in a number of forms: not storing your food properly, leaving scraps of food behind, leaving food wrappers behind, to name three ways.

Conclusion

Develop scrupulous habits in food handling in the wilderness. Keep a clean camp. Learn and practice proper food storage. Pack out everything you packed in including food wrappers and leftovers.

Never feed a wild animal, especially a bear. The life you save may be the bear’s.

By Richard Davidian, Ph.D.