JAMESTOWN, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – A common message every year from the North Dakota Game & Fish Department; leave wild baby animals alone.

While intentions may be good, Game & Fish Wildlife Biologist Doug Leier says to leave the young, wild animals alone.

Leier adds that often, young animals are not abandoned or deserted, and the mother is probably nearby. Young wildlife are purposely secluded by adults to protect them from predators.

Anytime a young wild animal has human contact, its chance of survival decreases significantly. It’s illegal to take wild animals home, and captive animals later returned to the wild will struggle to survive without possessing learned survival skills.

In other Game & Fish information, Leier says the department has created a fishing waters search to make finding certain fish in waters across the state easier.

For more information, visit gf.nd.gov. You can listen to Doug Leier talk the great outdoors every Thursday at 7:40 on Big Dog Country 95.5 FM with JD in the Morning.