$345 fine for kidnapping fawn in Port Alberni, B.C.

The please-don’t-kidnap-the-newborn-fawns warning went out early.

And yet, the British Columbia Conservation Officer Service said they have fined someone for swiping a fawn in the forest.

“In Port Alberni, a person knowingly took a fawn with the intent of keeping it – that person was quickly located & issued a $345 fine,” conservation officers said last week.

By a stroke of luck, wildlife officials managed to reunite the fawn with its mother.

But Bambi thefts can also be well intentioned.

Sometimes people will gather them up believing them orphaned or abandoned.

But more than likely, they’re just fine.

According to the Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation, mothers will leave their fawns alone for up to six hours so their babies won’t be found by predators, such as coyotes, wolves or dogs.

Fawns are also born without a scent, which helps keep predators away.

“Please do not disturb fawns you may see alone outside,” the B.C. conservation service said. “They are very likely not abandoned.”

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Recovering newspaper reporter.

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