Orphaned young deer returned to the wild in Alberta

The Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation has released seven deer fawns back into the wild after the animals arrived at the clinic orphaned and injured.

They arrived as orphans — but now, five months later — a group of young deer are being returned to the wild.

The Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation says it released seven mule and white-tailed deer fawns back into the wild this week after staff were able to nurse them back to health and determine they were healthy and old enough to fend for themselves.

The AIWC said the fawns arrived at the centre “in immediate need of help,” after being injured and possibly inadvertently “kidnapped” from their mothers.

“It is totally normal for mother deer to leave the fawns alone for large parts of the day,” said Scottie Potter, communications co-ordinator for the AIWC.

“However, some people mistakenly pick them up thinking they are abandoned, when they are totally fine.”

Potter said the AIWC will sometimes try to reunite the fawn with its mother if they can be sure the mother is still in the area where the fawn was found. However, that’s often not possible.

These fawns, when brought to the centre, “were too young to survive on their own,” Potter said.

The fawns were fed specially-made formula for the first few weeks at the centre and were so young they were unable to relieve themselves without staff assistance.