With the breeding season well under way Wildlife Aid has issued a stark warning to well meaning nature lovers - leave young animals and birds alone, even if they seem to have been abandoned.

“If you pick up and handle a young animal or bird it will then almost certainly be rejected by its mother,” said a spokesman for the Leatherhead animal charity.

“Mothers sometimes choose the most unusual places to have their babies.

"Parents will often leave their young for short periods to search for food, and often decide to move their litter, one by one, to another nest,” she said.

“Although it might seem terribly sad to hear the cries of a hungry baby calling for its mum, in almost every case she is not far away and will return soon.”

Last year Wildlife Aid hand reared 50 fox cubs who were brought in by well-meaning members of the public who mistakenly assumed that they had been abandoned.

“We raised badger cubs that had been pulled from their setts by over-excited dogs, out for a walk in the woods and we hand-fed literally hundreds of baby birds whose nests had been accidentally knocked from trees and hedges when people tidied their garden preparing for spring,” said the spokesman.

Last year volunteers and staff at the centre raised and successfully released back to the wild over 4000 orphaned animals and birds.

Wildlife Aid is holding its annual open day on Sunday June 21 from 10am.

It is the only time of the year that the animal sanctuary in Randalls Road, Leatherhead, is open to the public.

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