Cities are home to growing wildlife populations including foxes, coyotes, raccoons, deer, and birds. Urban wildlife policy shapes the welfare of millions of animals through management decisions made at local level.
Urban wildlife policy determines the welfare of millions of animals living in cities. Policy choices — whether to use lethal control, how to manage attractants, whether to install wildlife crossings, how to regulate garden practices — affect individual animal welfare at population scale. Lethal control policies that repeatedly remove animals without addressing attractants provide no lasting reduction in conflict while causing ongoing welfare harm. Non-lethal management addressing root causes — securing food waste, reducing attractants, installing exclusion — achieves more durable coexistence. Cities that develop explicit urban biodiversity strategies increasingly include welfare considerations alongside ecological goals.