Urban environments support remarkable wildlife including foxes, bats, hedgehogs, and peregrine falcons, each facing specific welfare challenges from city living.
Urban environments have been colonized by wildlife with varying welfare implications. Species that adapt well to cities including urban foxes, pigeons, and peregrine falcons can maintain good welfare in urban habitats despite being surrounded by human infrastructure. Urban peregrines have abundant food from feral pigeons and benefit from reduced golden eagle and goshawk competition. Urban foxes have consistent food from domestic gardens but face traffic mortality and mange. Urban hedgehogs benefit from supplementary feeding but suffer from garden fragmentation and cat predation. The welfare of urban wildlife is heavily influenced by human behavior: garden management, supplementary feeding, traffic, domestic animals, and lighting all affect individual welfare outcomes. Creating wildlife-friendly gardens, driving carefully in residential areas, and managing domestic animals responsibly all improve urban wildlife welfare.