History Main / PetBabyWildAnimal

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'':
** Done in the 9th movie, of all places, with May and Manaphy. Also occurred a couple of times in the series, in which a character nurses an injured wild Pokemon back to health and then sets them free.
** This is a major plot point in a multi-part special in the anime. In the special, a young CharacterOfTheDay has befriended a baby Lugia (making Lugia one of the few Legendary Pokemon to have a confirmed breeding population in the wild ([[GameplayAndStorySegregation Though, you cannot breed Lugia in the games themselves]]) and has named him "Silver". However, Team Rocket uses the boy's friendship with Silver to find the adult Lugia and turn it "evil" by enraging it so they can use it for their own evil plans. Because it's too risky for them to spend time together, the boy and Silver are forced to part ways with one another.
** In another episode one of the many Nurse Joys (and the only one with a unique appearance thanks to her deep tan) rescued a baby Magikarp that was stranded on the beach when she was a little girl. Years later, the same Magikarp, which had become a rather huge specimen, rescued her when she fell overboard from a ship. In the present, they remain good friends. When Team Rocket attacks, the Magikarp's desire to protect Nurse Joy prompts its evolution into [[MagikarpPower Gyarados.]] After a tense moment, Gyarados shows that it's just as affectionate as ever.
** In "Wings N' Things", a character named Zachary Evans raised a Yanma who was injured during a storm. Things go well until it started breaking windows, causing the townspeople ans his dad to get mad, so he decided to let it go. But that changed when Team Rocket tried to use it destroy the glass windows with the Pokemon. The boy eventually was able to keep the Pokemon and trained it to stop breaking windows.

* In ''VideoGame/Yakuza0'', while [[spoiler:reprimanding Majima with brute force about his refusal to kill his target Makoto Makimura]], Sagawa talks about a time in his childhood when he took in an injured wild bird and kept it company in secret for several days, despite his parents forbidding him from having pets of his own, feeding it and even naming it "Mametaro". [[spoiler:Unfortunately, his parents later found out, and they punished him by feeding it to the family cat.]] The whole point of this story [[spoiler:is to tell Majima that when he gets an order, ''he carries out the order'', he doesn't walk back on it just because he started to get all sentimental for his target.]]

* In ''VideoGame/Yakuza0'', while [[spoiler:reprimanding Majima with brute force about his refusal to kill his target Makoto Makimura]], Sagawa talks about a time in his childhood when he took in an injured wild bird and kept it company for several days, feeding it and even naming it "Mametaro". [[spoiler:Unfortunately, his parents later found out and they punished him by feeding it to the family cat.]]

* On ''Series/TheJoyOfPainting'', Bob Ross would occasionally show us videos of him interacting with (and caring for) wild animals, or even bringing them into the studio at the start of the episode. The most memorable of these featured animals is "Peapod, the pocket squirrel".

Compare the EggMcGuffin for certain types of animal and RaisedInCaptivity for wild animals who are let free. See also CubCuesProtectiveParent for another type of plot that can develop when characters encounter baby wild animals. May in some cases be an example of AdoringThePests or TrainingThePet. Compare UnsuccessfulPetAdoption, which is always about ''non-wild'' pets.

* Jinpei in ''[[Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman Gatchaman]]'' is known for his affinity to animals, but the example most specific to this trope is in a Gatch II episode where he tries to adopt an orphaned baby puma. Not only does he have to set it free, he's also struck with the realization that for him, childhood's over. (To be fair, though, he ''is'' 12 years old by this point)

* ''VideoGame/ApexLegends'': Bloodhound brings his pet eagle to the arena, while Vestige brings her pet bat.

Compare the EggMcGuffin for certain types of animal and RaisedInCaptivity for wild animals who are let free. See also CubCuesProtectiveParent for another type of plot that can develop when characters encounter baby wild animals. May in some cases be an example of AdoringThePests. Compare UnsuccessfulPetAdoption, which is always about ''non-wild'' pets.

* ComicBook/AmadeusCho adopted a Coyote cub he named Cerberus (Kirby for short) while on the run. He eventually had to give it up when they separated and it mated, forgetting about him entirely.

In reality, most wild animals have very specific needs that a well-meaning amateur caretaker will have no idea how to fulfill, or even know that they ''need'' to be fulfilled. Wild animals raised incorrectly can be left with permanent disabilities, if they survive at all. Wild animals can also die from stress, just from being handled by humans in the wrong way. There's a reason most states require people to become licensed wildlife rehabilitators before trying to raise orphaned or injured wildlife, and it's best for everyone, especially the wildlife, if would-be caregivers contact one of ''them'' instead of trying to do it themselves.

* Literature/{{A Song of Ice and Fire}}: The Stark family stumbles upon a dead Direwolf and her orphaned pups. The pups are given to the family's children to raise as pets.

* {{Inverted}} in ''Literature/TheJungleBook'': There was once this wolfpack who adopted a human cub and successfully raised him. Though when he reached puberty they had to let him go, so he could find a mate.

* When Jean first visits Joe's Australian homestead in ''Literature/ATownLikeAlice'', a friendly young [[KangaroosRepresentAustralia wallaby]] is hanging around outside. Joe explains that when he and friends went out to get wallaby skins for Jean's new shoe business, they accidentally shot a doe with a joey. He didn't want to leave the joey alone and defenseless, so he brought it home. He feeds it bread and milk and it likes to play with the household puppies. Joe thinks the wallaby will probably head off into the bush of its own accord when it gets older.

* There is an ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'' short story in which the Wolfrider elves prevent a human from killing a wolf. The human tells them that he and his wife had raised the animal from a cub, only for it to kill their infant son. The Wolfriders, who are naturally familiar with wolf behavior, tell the man that the wolf was only obeying its instincts, and that he should not have let his son play with it unsupervised. The Wolfriders adopt the animal, but it can't adapt to life in the wild or integrate with their wolfpack. Eventually it runs back to its former master, and the elves can only speculate as to whether the human will kill it or give it a second chance. The story is apparently intended as [[AnvilOfTheStory a warning to fans]] about the dangers of owning a real wolf or wolf/dog hybrid.

* Baby chimps were once considered fashionable pets and were sometimes adopted as children. One of the most iconic adopted chimps was Lucy Temerlin, who became famous for serving tea to guests and drinking straight gin. Once chimps reach sexual maturity, however, they are nearly impossible to handle as pets and must be released into the wild or rehabilitation shelters.

* ''Film/BornFree is BasedOnATrueStory about the difficulty of reintroducing a lion raised in captivity to the wild. In the beginning, it's actually ''three'' lion cubs that the Adamsons are caring for, but two of them are sent to a zoo while they're still fairly young, as the full trio proves to be too much for the Adamsons to handle.

* The book (and film) ''RingOfBrightWater'' tell the true story of how a man adopted and raised a baby otter.

* ''Film/BornFree:'' BasedOnATrueStory about the difficulty of reintroducing a lion raised in captivity to the wild.

* ''Literature/BornFree:'' BasedOnATrueStory about the difficulty of reintroducing a lion raised in captivity to the wild.

* ''Film/FlyAwayHome'' is about a girl who rescues a nest of goslings to adulthood, and then must teach them how to fly and then migrate for the winter. Here, the girl enjoys a compromise, the birds are returned to the wild, but her farm is their regular migration destination in the spring. This was VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: They were experimenting with geese (which are in no way endangered) as a way for finding ways to [[https://web.archive.org/web/20001109111700/http://www.operationmigration.org/index.html reintroduce Whooping cranes,]] raised in captivity, to the wild.

* As mentioned under Films, ''Film/BornFree'' is BasedOnATrueStory about Joy and George Adamson, who raised a lioness, Elsa, from a cub and then successfully (albeit with much difficulty) trained her to live in the wild. The events are chronicled in Joy's memoir, also entitled ''BornFree''.

* In 1969, Anthony "Ace" Bourke and John Rendall purchased a lion cub (whom they named Christian) from Harrods on a whim, and raised him as their own. As he grew bigger, they realized they wouldn't be able to keep him, so they sent him to Korra National Reserve[[note]]which was upgraded to National Park status in 1989[[/note]], Kenya, where George Adamson -- who had rehabilitated Elsa the lioness with his wife, Joy (chronicled in ''Born Free'') -- helped him transition to life in the wild. John and Ace were told when they went to visit Christian the next year that he might not remember them; on the contrary, he was ''very'' happy to see them again. (In 2009, the video of their reunion was uploaded to Website/YouTube, and quickly went viral.)

* Cheetahs are surprisingly easy to tame, but seldom in captivity. This resulted in severe decline in cheetah populations a couple of centuries ago, when it became fashionable to train them as hunting animals in the Middle East (and even in India, during the Mughal era).

* The hero and his future wife in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV'' adopt a "kitty" that turns out to be a baby Great Sabrecat. [[spoiler:After capturing the hero and another friend later, TheDragon deliberately forces it back to the wild to try and turn it feral, but years later it recognizes the hero's childhood friend's ribbon and rejoins the party, turning out to be extremely useful.]]

* ''Film/Duma'': Loosely BasedOnATrueStory, Xan (a boy from South Africa) adopts a cheetah cub who wandered out of a protected reserve when his mother was killed by lions. When the cheetah (named Duma, [[ADogNamedDog which is the Swahili word for his species]]) comes of age, Xan sets out to take him back to the wild, as his dad had planned to do before dying from illness.