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Feeding native wildlife can lead to serious problems for both animals and humans. We recommend that people interested in interacting with wildlife install a bird bath and/or create a native habitat garden that attracts birds and animals by providing a range of natural food resources. Our Bushland Team can help with:
Council, along with the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, WIRES and Sydney Wildlife Rescue, actively discourage people from feeding wild animals and birds for many reasons:
- processed seeds, bread and other foods can make animals ill and susceptible to diseases
- birds and animals that expect to be fed by people can become aggressive
- hand-feeding can pass on parasites and disease both ways
- hand-fed birds and animals can lose their ability to forage for natural foods and fail to pass on learnt behaviours to their offspring
- hand-feeding can cause a population imbalance to develop, where common urban species grow to dominate at the expense of other wildlife, leading to greater competition for scarce resources like tree hollows for nesting
- buildings, gardens and public spaces are often damaged by overfed species, such as sulphur-crested cockatoos and brush turkeys
- over-feeding can result in a surplus of food that attracts vermin.