Do you think this is cruel on animals?

An animal that has imprinted upon a human, or any other animal that is not of the same species can almost never be released back into the wild. Not only has this animal missed the critical education from its real parents, but it also will not be able to socialize with others of its species. In many cases the animal dies when released because it has no skills. If the animal does live, they often never take mates or don't really know how to behave socially. For example, if you have a duckling imprint upon you, it will identify as "human" and not recognize itself as the same species as the other ducks. Many imprinted animals will attempt to pair up/mate with humans rather than others of their own species. Another example is if a baby chicken is raised by a mother duck, it will end up drowned as it tries to go in the water with the other ducks, but chickens can not swim. If you happen across a baby animal in the wild that you are CERTAIN is abandoned, the right thing to do is to relinquish it to the local wildlife rehabilitation service. They have special training and facilities to maximize the chance that the animal will be able to return to the wild. If the animal can not be returned to the wild, they would be the best people to provide it with care for it life span. In summary, yes, it is cruel to keep a wild animal, imprinted or otherwise. Even with the best intentions, you are really not the person to be raising that animal. If you are in this situation, and are unsure, remember to ask yourself if keeping this animal is a selfish act or not. If the animal has nothing to gain, but does have something to lose by being with you, then it is wrong to keep it.

well it depends how u do it and what animal your talking about such as if you find a hurt bird such as a blue bird and dont play with it and let it catch its food (if it can) in the encloser and after its made a recovery slowly introduse it like start letting it catch its food outside and than let it go and but a bird feeder in your yard for a little bit no but if u find a baby raise it play with it feed it by hand love it and than when it grows up take it in a park and leave it in a tree thats not right

Yes I think it is cruel.

Yup

Yes, animals belong to the wild.

in a way it is, because they do not have the experience to adapt easily

yre