Urban Wildlife Coexistence | Animal Welfare Hub

As cities expand, wild animals increasingly live alongside humans — requiring thoughtful coexistence strategies that protect both wildlife welfare and human safety.

Key Facts

Urban areas now host surprising biodiversity: coyotes, foxes, raccoons, deer, raptors, and songbirds have all adapted to city living
Urban wildlife face specific hazards: vehicle strikes, rodenticide poisoning, window collisions, and domestic cat predation
An estimated 1 billion birds die annually from window strikes in North America — second only to cats as a bird mortality cause
Urban coyote populations self-regulate through territory — removing individual "problem" coyotes creates vacancy for new animals
Rodenticide use in cities creates poisoning cascades: raptors and carnivores are killed by eating rodenticide-poisoned prey
Urban heat islands create thermal stress for wildlife; urban trees and green corridors significantly mitigate this effect
Human food conditioning of urban wildlife — through intentional or inadvertent feeding — creates conflict and habituation that often ends in the animal's death

Welfare Considerations

Urban wildlife experience a distinctive set of welfare challenges created by the human-built environment. Window collisions kill birds who cannot perceive glass as a barrier; the solution — window treatments that break up reflections — is simple and inexpensive. Second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides that persist through food chains are causing sub-lethal suffering and death in raptors and carnivores across urban areas; switching to first-generation products or non-toxic alternatives resolves this cascade. Urban coyotes, raccoons, and foxes face chronic stress from human harassment; most conflicts arise from food conditioning that can be prevented through secure garbage management. Coexistence succeeds when human behavior changes — wildlife rarely need to change.

What You Can Do

Apply bird-safe window treatments (fritted glass, hawk silhouettes spaced correctly, or external screens) to large glass surfaces
Replace second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (brodifacoum, bromadiolone) with first-generation or non-toxic alternatives
Secure garbage in wildlife-proof containers — most urban wildlife conflicts begin with unsecured food sources
Never intentionally feed wildlife — habituation creates dependency and typically ends in the animal's removal or death
Plant native trees and shrubs in urban gardens to provide food, shelter, and connectivity for urban wildlife