Urban foxes are increasingly common in cities worldwide. Managing human-fox coexistence humanely — and understanding fox welfare in urban environments — requires moving beyond pest control mindsets.
Urban foxes exist in a unique welfare context: they are wild animals adapted to human-dominated environments, neither fully wild nor truly domestic. Their welfare challenges include mange epidemics that cause prolonged suffering, road traffic injuries, and occasional deliberate persecution. From a coexistence perspective, lethal control is both ineffective and ethically problematic given that foxes are sentient animals with demonstrated intelligence and social bonds. Humane approaches — managing food sources, treating mange where possible, and building tolerance through public education — produce better outcomes for foxes and reduce conflict more sustainably than culling.