Colorado Parks and Wildlife

4/17/2024

Be a good neighbor to Colorado’s wildlife; don’t feed them

04/17/24

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

Be a good neighbor to Colorado’s wildlife; don’t feed them

DENVER – Although offering food to others is usually considered admirable, feeding wildlife is more harmful than helpful because human food is not always healthy for wild animals.

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 risks wildlife health and safety. Many cities have also implemented additional feeding restrictions for squirrels and rabbits. Those in violation are subject to fines, and even worse, they 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 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 essential wildlife messages, CPW recently released a series of song parodies that sing about the harmful effects of feeding wildlife. Use the Online Toolkit to download and share the song parodies.

These creative spin-offs of popular songs like ‘Another Brick in the Wall’ and ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ are based on real-life events of people feeding wildlife. They were recorded to help educate people about the importance of keeping wildlife wild and emphasize that feeding wildlife is 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: 42 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 to Colorado’s wildlife; don’t feed them