SGUK Outdoor Skills Challenge 62: Learn the UK’s Rules on Feeding Wildlife

It can be tempting to offer food to a robin, feed a duck or leave a little something for an animal you spot while exploring outdoors. However, food that seems harmless to us can cause problems for wildlife, from encouraging animals to approach people to spreading disease.

Your challenge is to learn the guidance on feeding wildlife and put it into practice on your next visit to the countryside.

Your Challenge

Learn the main rules and recommendations about feeding wild animals in the UK, then spend time observing wildlife without feeding or disturbing it.

The practical aim is to understand how to enjoy seeing wild animals while allowing them to find their own natural food.

What You’ll Need

• A suitable outdoor location where wildlife can be observed
• Your knowledge of the Countryside Code
• A notebook or your memory to record what you learn

Take the Challenge

1. Learn the basic guidance. Read the Countryside Code. Its advice for England and Wales is not to feed wild animals, livestock or horses. Follow local signs and any additional rules at the place you visit.
2. Understand why feeding can be harmful. Human food may be unsuitable for an animal’s diet. Feeding can also encourage wildlife to gather in one place, become dependent on handouts or approach people and roads. Leftover food can attract pests and create hygiene problems.
3. Learn the difference between wildlife and managed feeding. Some places have specific guidance for garden bird feeders, wildlife rehabilitation or managed conservation projects. These situations are not permission to feed animals wherever you find them. Check the relevant guidance and local rules before taking part.
4. Go wildlife watching. Visit a suitable outdoor area and observe animals from a respectful distance. Look at how they search for food naturally, where they move and how they respond to their surroundings.
5. Practise responsible behaviour. Do not offer food, approach young animals, chase wildlife for a photograph or leave scraps behind. Keep dogs under control and give animals plenty of space.
6. Explain what you’ve learned. Identify three reasons not to feed wild animals in the countryside and describe one way to observe wildlife without disturbing it.

Remember that rules and guidance can differ across the UK and between individual sites. Always check local restrictions rather than assuming that one site’s rules apply everywhere.

Check Your Results

Check your understanding against these points:

• Can you explain the main guidance on feeding wildlife?
• Can you name three potential problems caused by feeding wild animals?
• Do you know why local signs and site rules matter?
• Can you observe wildlife without approaching or feeding it?
• Can you explain how to leave a wildlife area undisturbed?

Complete the Challenge

Your challenge is complete when you have learnt the relevant guidance, observed wildlife responsibly and explained three reasons why feeding wild animals can be harmful.

You can use a photograph of wildlife taken from a respectful distance as evidence. Do not approach an animal just to get a better picture.

How to Submit Your Challenge

Submit your evidence

1. Go to your SGUK member profile.
2. Open Social Activity.
3. Upload a photograph of your evidence to the activity wall.
4. Add the hashtag #SGUKChallenge62.
5. Share it for verification.

Challenge 62 Checklist

Want to Push Yourself?

Choose one wild animal you regularly see outdoors. Find out what it naturally eats, how it finds food and what you can do to protect its habitat without feeding it.

What’s Next?

If you haven’t completed the previous challenge, try SGUK Outdoor Skills Challenge 61: Stand in Cold Rain for Ten Minutes in the Right Clothing. You can complete the SGUK Challenges in any order.

Once you’ve shared your evidence and it has been verified, the SGUK Outdoor Skills Challenge 62 is complete and the completed challenges figure will be updated on your profile.

Learn. Practise. Master.

That’s what the SGUK Outdoor Skills Challenge is all about.