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U URBAN WILDLIFE high degree of landscape heterogeneity and a rapid change of landforms, primarily as a result of constant development activities Wild animals that have long been urban residents, for example, squirrels, must cope with these, and species that are colonizing urban habitats, for example coyotes, must adapt An ever growing and expanding zone of humananimal contacts characterizes city and suburb, wherein the majority of interactions are undoubtedly positive, while the more noticed, discussed, and attended to are undoubtedly negative Any wild animal living in the urban environment can be, and certainly at one time or more has been, labeled a pest Historically, wildlife authorities in North America have conducted pest control by using traditional approaches—hunting, trapping, and poisoning being preferred Derived largely from an agricultural context, such practices have been deemed necessary as economic measures, but are harshly criticized for their moral presuppositions (Fox and Papouchis, 2004; Robinson, 2005) Controversy and polarization arise from differing ethics of how we ought to relate to and live with nonhuman animals Both specific practices, as well as the principles underlying the treatment of wild animals in the urban context, are rightly being questioned Traditional wildlife control practices, such as the drowning of nuisance animals that have been caught in traps, deserve obvious criticism, because The 21st century continues to bear witness to the relentless growth of human populations, along with the cities that have become our principal habitation In 2008, an unheralded boundary was crossed when more humans globally came to live in cities than outside them The transition from humans living in small social groups to a massive, urban, cosmopolitan populace has taken place in less than one percent of the time we have been identifiable as a species We are, it seems, villagers confronting the challenges of big city life, and seemingly poorly equipped to deal with problems ranging from obvious social discord to our near-suicidal mistreatment of the natural world Proponents of concepts such as biophilia and nature deficit disorder tell us that one of the more important consequences of urban life is that we are also becoming increasingly alienated from the natural world, in ways that can produce a lack of empathy, concern, and connection to other living things, humans included Abetting a moral and personal alienation from nature is the ever-growing burden of the urban ecological footprint Cities not only dominate, directly and indirectly, the global ecology, they are also important ecosystems in their own right (Hadidian & Smith, 2001) The urban environment is characterized by both a 565
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