Embracing Wildlife in Cities

More and more wild animals, including coyotes and bears, are reportedly inhabiting cities across the globe. Concurrent with this migration is an increase in our fear of the potential mishaps that might occur if these wild animals turn out to be hostile. However, though the presence of wild animals in urban settings may appear to be quite daunting at first, positive relationships can be easily formed and can prove beneficial for both parties.

The inclusion of wild animals in our cities can point to an upward trend in the amount of care and attention that is accessible for those animals. As the wild animals in question become more comfortable in an environment with predominantly humans, they become less resistant to medical procedures. Veterinarians would be able to administer treatment more efficiently and thereby increase the likelihood of the survival of an animal with an especially critical injury. According to Louis Dorfman, an animal behaviorist at the International Exotic Animal Sanctuary, for specific specialists like himself, maintaining a positive relationship with wild animals is essential, especially when they are in a form of captivity, to ensure the safety of people and disincentivize any attacks by the animal. With regards to any endangered species, the migration of wild animals into cities provides a more accessible means of protection for these species. According to the Endangered Species Coalition, the primary way of saving endangered animals is by protecting their habitats. Migration of wildlife into cities alludes to the destruction of other suitable habitats for wild animals and offers us an opportunity to build new ones and preserve that species in the future.

Conversely, as wild animals enter our cities, we can actually feel safer regarding any potential attacks on us or our own pets if we choose to adapt our infrastructure and urbanization and fine-tune all of it to to the comfortability of the wild animals. According to Tristan Donovan, the author of Feral Cities: Adventures with Animals in the Urban Jungle, building our environments around wild animals, in addition to benefiting those animals, significantly reduces the chances of attacks or any relevant nuisances as well as bolsters the trust in wildlife-human relations. For example, the architects of the Aqua Tower in Chicago constructed it to resemble the shape of a cliff and thus reduces the chances of birds crashing right into it. Furthermore, such modifications to our infrastructure have shown to be a defining point between a wild animal acting against us or in synchrony. According to Donovan, feral chickens seem to be quite rampant and irritating in Miami, but feral peafowls, for which designs have been adapted for, seem to act quite benignantly. Financially, such infrastructures would also conveniently reduce the exorbitant amounts of money we pool into skyscrapers and other characteristic features of an incessant inclination towards urbanization in our society.

With no doubt, the transition to permitting wild animals in our environments might be a bit rocky and will most definitely bring quite a deal of apprehension to the general public. Despite the fearful hostility that may seem to superficially propagate from bears or wolves, that hostility only shrouds the true benefits that a migration of wildlife into cityscapes can offer to both animals and people. Since there is no ethical or practical technique for removing wild animals from our cities, the most rational route in this situation is to accept the presence of that wildlife and make the appropriate accommodations.