Wildlife that can live or thrive in urban environments
Urban wildlife: an eastern grey squirrel in Montreal scavenging for food in a garbage canPigeons intermingle with tourists in VeniceBlue tongued skink in suburban street in Canberra (10.2 cm storm water pipe in photo shows size)
Urban wildlife is wildlife that can live or thrive in urban/suburban environments or around densely populated human settlements such as townships.
Some urban wildlife, such as house mice, are synanthropic, ecologically associated with and even evolved to become entirely dependent on human habitats. For instance, the range of many synanthropic species is expanded to latitudes at which they could not survive the winter outside of the shelterings provided by human settlements. Other species simply tolerate cohabiting around humans and use the remaining urban forests, parklands, green spaces and garden/street vegetations as niche habitats, in some cases gradually becoming sufficiently accustomed around humans to also become synanthropic over time. These species represent a minority of the natural creatures that would normally inhabit an area, and contain a large proportions of feral and introduced species as opposed to truly native species. For example, a 2014 compilation of studies (that were severely biased towards work in Europe with very few studies from south and south-east Asia) found that only 8% of native bird and 25% of native plant species were present in urban areas compared with estimates of non-urban density of species.[1]
Urban wildlife can be found at any latitude that supports human dwellings - the list of animals that will venture into urbanized human settlements to forage on horticultures or to scavenge from trash runs from monkeys in the tropics to polar bears in the Arctic.
Different types of urban areas support different kinds of wildlife. One general feature of bird species that adapt well to urban environments is they tend to be the species with bigger brains, perhaps allowing them to be more behaviorally adaptable to the more volatile urban environment.[2] Arthropods (insects, spiders and millipedes), gastropods (land snails and slugs), various worms and some reptiles (e.g. house geckos) can also thrive well in the niches of human settlements.
^Aronson, Myla F. J.; La Sorte, Frank A.; Nilon, Charles H.; Katti, Madhusudan; Goddard, Mark A.; et al. (April 2014). "A global analysis of the impacts of urbanization on bird and plant diversity reveals key anthropogenic drivers". Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 281 (1780): 20133330. doi:10.1098/rspb.2013.3330. PMC 4027400. PMID 24523278.
^Davies, Ella (2011-04-27). "Adaptable urban birds have bigger brains". BBC News. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
Urbanwildlife is wildlife that can live or thrive in urban/suburban environments or around densely populated human settlements such as townships. Some...
from wildlife in an urban setting, while rare are detrimental to societal views on wildlife. Due to media coverage of these rare attacks, urban populations...
report in The Economist suggested that urban coyotes were increasingly living in cities and suburbs. Wildlife ecologists at Ohio State University studied...
in Agoura Hills, California. The bridge will be one of the largest urbanwildlife crossings in the world, connecting the Simi Hills and the Santa Monica...
forests, and other areas including the most developed urban areas, all have distinct forms of wildlife. While the term in popular culture usually refers to...
the key urbanwildlife site and catchment area near Guwahati City. Located approximately 15 km (10 miles) away from Guwahati, Garbhanga Wildlife Sanctuary...
control urban rat populations, and ecologists oppose their use for this purpose because of the disproportionate harm they do to native wildlife. As an...
raccoons, certain monkey species, coyotes, deer, passerines, and other urbanwildlife. The brown rat is counted as one of the most prominent synanthropic...
all with a relatively small footprint. Trees in urban forests provide food and shelter for wildlife in cities. Birds and small mammals use trees as nesting...
citywide average of 11%. Urban forests in the built environment affect urbanwildlife in several ways. An urban habitat can impact wildlife behavior significantly...
Roth, Founder and President of the UrbanWildlife Society". Hot Look Magazine. republished online by UrbanWildlife Society. "Feral Pigeons in Bexley"...
Daniel L.; Adams, Lowell W. (1984). A Guide to UrbanWildlife Management. National Institute for UrbanWildlife. Uyehara, Kimberly; Engilis, Andrew; Reynolds...
form of plague in rural wildlife. Urban plague refers to the form in urbanwildlife. It is primarily transmitted among wildlife through flea bites and...
Wildlife conservation refers to the practice of protecting wild species and their habitats in order to maintain healthy wildlife species or populations...
a staple food source, especially in urban settings. The peregrine is a highly successful example of urbanwildlife in much of its range, taking advantage...
and drug-related crime) Large and/or less regulated populations of urbanwildlife (e.g., abandoned pets, feral animals, and semi-feral animals) Elevated...
Archived from the original on 2009-05-16. Retrieved 2009-09-05. "Nature & Wildlife - Chamorro Culture". Guam Visitors Bureau. Government of Guam. 2018-09-24...
103–4. Cameron 2007, p. 77. Cameron 2007, p. 104. Temby, Ian (1999). "Urbanwildlife issues in Australia" (PDF). In Shaw Williams; Lisa Harris; Larry Vandruff...
A list of urban parks by size includes parks at least 404.7 hectares (1,000 acres) or 4 square kilometres (1.5 sq mi) and contained entirely within a...
McGraw-Hill, New York.ISBN 978-0-07-353222-6. Clark E. Adams (15 June 2012). UrbanWildlife Management, Second Edition. CRC Press. p. 168. ISBN 978-1-4665-2127-8...
an urban context. Urban agriculture is distinguished from peri-urban agriculture, which takes place in rural areas at the edge of suburbs. Urban agriculture...
transportation systems only allow service animals and forbid pets. According to urbanwildlife specialist Suzanne MacDonald, animal "commuters" are usually motivated...
Siena International Photo Awards. Murad also won second place in the UrbanWildlife category at the Nature TTL Photographer of the Year Competition in 2021...
southern states, causing a significant biting nuisance in urban areas. Unlike most Australian urban mosquitos, molestus is active through all 12 months of...
1186/s40851-019-0129-z. PMC 6558907. PMID 31205748. Wright, Mike. "Wildlife Profiles: Pigeon". Arkansas UrbanWildlife. Archived from the original on 2008-06-10. Retrieved...
summer festivals, circuses and fun fairs. The Common includes Hawthorns UrbanWildlife Centre on the former site of Southampton Zoo, a paddling pool and several...
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