Feeding Wildlife

September 21, 2023

Question: How does CDFW respond after getting reports of someone feeding wildlife?

Answer: The feeding of wildlife is highly discouraged by CDFW because handouts by well-meaning people can result in wildlife losing their natural fear of humans. Animals that feed on human sources of food may lose their ability to forage naturally. Potential negative results in wildlife include increased aggression toward humans, unnatural increases in population and increased death rates from the spread of diseases.

There are multiple legal consequences to feeding wildlife including the violation of California Code of Regulations section 251.3 which states “no person shall knowingly feed big game mammals, as defined in Section 350 of these regulations.”

Reports of suspected feeding can be left with CDFW regional offices ( https://wildlife.ca.gov/Regions )around the state and that information will be forwarded to the Human-Wildlife Conflicts Program. One of CDFW’s conflict specialists is likely to follow up with the reporting party to learn more about the activity. A community visit might also be scheduled to further educate the public about the potential harm done to wildlife by feeding. If the behavior continues, a team of CDFW volunteers could be used to go door-to-door to discuss the issue with residents and distribute anti-feeding literature.

Please visit www.keepmewild.org for additional information on the reasons to avoid feeding wildlife.