A roe deer wandered around the courtyards of apartment buildings in Vilnius: he explained to residents how to behave in such cases

The representative of the Department of Environmental Protection, Sigitas Mikėnas, commented on the animals in the city.

“Was it a doe in this case?”

– Yes, in the visual material you provided, there was a 2- or 3-year-old male deer.

– Is it normal that such a beast wandered into the city? Is it supposed to be somewhere in the woods?

– It is natural that the inhabitants of the city of Vilnius, in general all the inhabitants, think that all animals must live in the forest. But everyone knows very well that there are many squares, parks and green areas in the city of Vilnius, along the banks of the Neris and Vilnelė rivers. They are home to not only deer, but also foxes and other smaller animals. This is natural.

– In this case, it can be seen that the doe has wandered into a densely populated block of monolithic apartment buildings, where there are not many trees, only cars and brick walls. It seemed to people that he had wandered off and could not find a way out. Can it be so?

– It may be so, because wild animals migrate most often at dusk and dawn. If they started migrating in the dark, they wandered somewhere, got lost… Natural processes. The day is getting longer and he appeared in the bright light in a residential block. Such cases become particularly active in spring, namely in May, June and autumn, when wild animals migrate from or to wintering grounds.

This is one aspect, and the other aspect is when, for about a year, animals also wander into urban areas at this particular spring time, because their mothers, who raised them, are expecting other babies and push them a little further away from themselves. They should learn to live independently, search for food and so on. There are also cases when they end up in the wrong areas where they should live.

– When an animal wanders into areas other than those where it should live, can people help it and do they have to interfere with nature at all?

– Human intervention in nature should be very minimal. If the animal has come to the city, you should call 112. Perhaps environmentalists should also assess the situation if the animal is injured or sick. There is a wildlife care center in Lithuania. If an injured animal is walking, such as a moose, veterinary specialists arrive. They have so-called tranquilizer guns. The animal can be put to sleep for some time and taken to a safe wooded area.

– But in this case, the doe is distracted. Does he need help or not at all?

– From the visual material, I would think that he does not need special help. Drivers should be careful to avoid a traffic accident. The animal should reach a safe, wooded area, if not on the same day, then on the next day.

– Should people try to feed them?

“I wouldn’t suggest doing that.” There is no need to comfort wild animals, for their beauty, for their curiosity, especially at this time of the year, so that they get even closer to humans. When the animal feels good, when it feels pleasure, it can simply not withdraw at all.

– What kinds of animals have people encountered in the city of Vilnius?

– In the city of Vilnius, there is no year that moose, roe deer, foxes do not come, even a wild boar once wandered by.

– Spring is the time when birds nest, small birds hatch and people often find them falling from trees. And maybe those birds are hatched in the grass, but people don’t know, they find them and try to help them, put them in a tree, take them to someone… Is it necessary to do that?

– The situation is analogous, human intervention is required minimally or not at all, because nature takes care of itself. Birds are part of nature. It is possible that some other bird may be specially thrown out of the nest by the parents. They evaluate it, see if it might be sick and throw it away just by getting rid of it.

Of course, it is possible that those birds that are already much older, more mature, try to fly themselves and fall out before they are ready to fly. If that’s the case, residents who know about certain types of birds would pick it up off the ground so cats or dogs wouldn’t pick it up and put it somewhere on a branch and do nothing else. No need to carry or transport it anywhere.

– But if that knowledge is not available, then perhaps there is no need to interfere at all?

– Maybe you shouldn’t intervene at all, or if you can clearly see that the animal is injured and needs human help, in that case you should call 112. Specialists will come and evaluate and possibly take it for treatment.

You can find the entire report on the LNK portal HERE.