Colorado Parks and Wildlife

3/23/2023

Be a good neighbor, don’t feed wildlife

03/23/23

Bridget O'Rourke
Statewide Public Information Officer
720-219-2919
bridget.orourke@state.co.us

Be a good neighbor, don’t feed wildlife

DENVER – Although good intentions to offer food to neighbors are usually considered admirable, when it comes to wildlife, feeding wild animals is more harmful than helpful.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) reminds and urges the public to refrain from feeding wildlife. Under Colorado law, feeding big game animals is illegal because it puts wildlife health and safety at risk, and many cities have implemented additional feeding restrictions for squirrels and rabbits. Those in violation are subject to fines, and even worse, could cause the animal to become sick and die.

How can humans help wildlife?

Do not approach, touch or feed wild animals.
Enjoy wildlife from a safe distance.
Keep your dog on a leash and on trails.
If you find a wild animal that appears sick or injured, leave it alone. Call your local Colorado Parks and Wildlife office and talk to a trained wildlife officer for guidance.

To help communicate these important wildlife messages, CPW recently released a series of song parodies that sing about the negative effects of feeding wildlife. Use the Online Toolkit to download and share the song parodies.

These creative spinoffs of popular songs like Imagine, Jolene, Hey Jude and Smells like Teen Spirit are based on real-life events of people feeding wildlife. They are designed to educate people about the importance of keeping wildlife wild and emphasize that feeding wildlife is considered unacceptable behavior in Colorado.

For more information on how to coexist with wildlife, read the online resources below:

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CPW is an enterprise agency, relying primarily on license sales, state parks fees and registration fees to support its operations, including: 43 state parks and more than 350 wildlife areas covering approximately 900,000 acres, management of fishing and hunting, wildlife watching, camping, motorized and non-motorized trails, boating and outdoor education. CPW's work contributes approximately $6 billion in total economic impact annually throughout Colorado.

COLORADO PARKS & WILDLIFE

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Be a good neighbor, don’t feed wildlife