#1) Why we shouldn't feed wild animals 🐵

Hello guys!

I met a lot of people during my travels, and the only way by keeping in touch while living our lives is by social media. I love to see a lot of pictures of adventures and especially a lot of smiling faces. It makes me happy every time when I scroll through my news feed! 😊

The only thing that is really bothering me is the pictures with wild animals, especially when people are feeding them!
I know it looks cute and you just want to be kind, but it’s not the right way!
Let me tell you why...

Birds 🐦
No matter where you live in the world, there will always be birds! Some are singing lovely songs so you can wake up in peace in the morning, others for which you wish they could shut their mouth for five minutes.
When I was younger and school was finished and I went to my grandparents, I fed the birds with my grandfather . I thought it was lovely to see how enthusiastic they were to get some bread or some fat from the bacon, but I wasn’t doing a good job…
Why?

1. When I was giving them bread and bacon, I was offering them junk food while nature offers them a wide range of natural food. And so, I was disturbing their natural diet.
2. Hand-fed birds are more likely to get illnesses from other birds; and it even can affect their breeding cycles.
3. There exist a lot of carnivorous birds, and a lot of kind people give them a bit of sausage, mince, … Unfortunately, these products contain a lot of chemical additives that are deadly for them.
4. The last reason is not only for birds but also for other animals: birds reproduce in function of the available food source. This means that their reproduction rates may be affected when an artificial food source is available. More easy explained: too many birds and not enough natural food sources.

Animals in general
→ For the people all over the world:
Animals also get used to being fed by hand and are going to attack people to have food.
Hand-feeding animals can cause more wild animals than usually found there.
If we keep on feeding them, they won’t learn their essential foraging skills and won’t survive when there is nobody to feed them.

→ For the Ozzies and Kiwis:
A lot of people know that chocolate is poisonous for dogs, but for the Australians and New Zealanders who are reading this: bread causes a deadly jaw disease in wallabies and kangaroos!

→ For the people living on exotic places (aka almost everywhere except Europe 😂):
Some lizards even find it difficult to distinguish your hand from the food you want to give them! You can expect to be bitten!

→ For the Europeans:
Ducks, gooses and deers don’t eat bread! It causes problems in their intestinal canal!

To end this article, I would like you to keep this quote in mind:
“People need nature more than nature needs people.”

Have a wonderful day, you all! 💚

(NB: Picture has been taken at Lake Mburo National Park, Uganda; and I didn't feed the zebras though! 😉)