Urban environments are home to diverse wildlife populations that face unique welfare challenges. Understanding and managing human-wildlife interactions in cities can significantly improve the lives of urban wild animals.
Urban wildlife occupies an ambiguous welfare space: cities can provide abundant food and reduced predation pressure but also impose novel hazards that cause suffering and death. Glass-related bird mortality alone kills an estimated 600 million birds annually in the USA. Secondary rodenticide poisoning kills raptors, foxes, and other predators that consume poisoned rodents. The cumulative welfare burden of urban hazards on individual animals is significant. However, urban wildlife welfare is highly amenable to citizen action — gardens, buildings, and individual behaviour choices can substantially reduce hazard exposure. Urban wildlife-friendly design that minimises glass reflectivity, reduces outdoor cat access, eliminates second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides, and provides appropriate habitat features can transform welfare outcomes for urban animals.