Buttonwood Park Zoo Takes In Two Orphaned Massachusetts Fawns

The Buttonwood Park Zoo has a long history of providing forever homes to orphaned and injured native wildlife, thanks to a strong partnership with the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, or MassWildlife - and 2021 has proven to be no exception.

In the early summer months, MassWildlife placed a female white-tailed deer fawn at BPZOO, who was believed to have been orphaned at less than ten days old in South Dartmouth. Weeks later, she was joined by a second female fawn found alone in Western Massachusetts. They are the first white-tailed deer to inhabit BPZOO since 2017.

The two fawns, now affectionately referred to as Autumn and Olive, were only weeks old when they arrived at BPZOO and required hand-rearing by animal care staff. After approximately two months of bottle feeding, weight checks, and completing the required quarantine, the fawns are ready to venture into a temporary habitat near their future home in the Zoo’s bison habitat.

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“As part of our mission related to environmental education and the conservation of wildlife, the Zoo is proud to provide homes to many native species that are injured or orphaned in the wild,” Zoo Director Keith Lovett said. “The Zoo, who has a long history in managing deer, will work to educate our guests on the impact humans can have on local wildlife and actions that can be taken to minimize our imprint on the environment.”

Eventually, Autumn and Olive will move into the bison habitat, a roughly half-acre space that the fawns will share with Sarah the bison and approximately 16 species of waterfowl.