The Fur-Bearers are pleased to release our Urban Feeding of Fur-Bearing Wildlife literature review. This review, compiled by Amelia Porter, MSc, EP, RPBio, organizes and provides an overview of the available studies and general state of knowledge related to wildlife feeding in urban areas.
The review will help inform our work in reducing negative encounters between people and wildlife, and assist municipalities and decision-makers to reach non-lethal decisions, rooted in the science of coexistence.
Urban Feeding of Fur-Bearing Wildlife answers three main questions:
- Why do people feed urban wildlife?
- What are the impacts to wildlife and humans in terms of behavior, health, ecology and conflict?
- What are proven and potential mitigation strategies?
With increasing urbanization and species capacity to live and flourish in urban areas, many animals have made human cities their permanent homes, where there is no clear boundary between human and wild animal communities. While humans enjoy the presence of wild animals in close proximity and experience pleasure from observing their behaviours, this comes with a responsibility to protect urban wildlife by understanding the implications of feeding wild animals.
This review looks at the impacts of wildlife feeding in particular and the detrimental consequences it has on animals, ecosystems, and even humans themselves. It lists several recommendations to address and mitigate wildlife feeding including educational programs, implementing wildlife-feeding bylaws coupled with effective enforcement, designing communities that foster connection with nature while minimizing feeding, developing coexistence plans within urban planning frameworks, and more.
Download the full review with the button below or flip through the PDF at the bottom of this page to learn about urban feeding of fur-bearing wildlife.
