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Wildlife has existed in urban areas since records began. However, the discipline of urban ecology is relatively new and one that is undergoing rapid growth. All wildlife in urban areas will interact with humans to some degree. With rates of urbanisation increasing globally, there is a pressing need to understand the type and nature of human–wildlife interactions within urban environments, to help manage, mitigate or even promote these interactions. Much research attention has focussed on the core topic of human–wildlife conflict. This inherent bias in the literature is probably driven by the ease with which it can be quantified and assessed. Human–wildlife conflicts in terms of disease transmission, physical attack and property damage are important topics to understand. Equally, the benefits of human–wildlife interactions are becoming increasingly recognised, despite being harder to quantify and generalise. Wildlife may contribute to the provision of ecosystem services in urban areas, and some recent work has shown how interactions with wildlife can provide a range of benefits to health and wellbeing. More research is needed to improve understanding in this area, requiring wildlife biologists to work with other disciplines including economics, public health, sociology, ethics, psychology and planning. There will always be a need to control wildlife populations in certain urban situations to reduce human–wildlife conflict. However, in an increasingly urbanised and resource-constrained world, we need to learn how to manage the risks from wildlife in new ways, and to understand how to maximise the diverse benefits that living with wildlife can bring.

Context Domestic cats (Felis catus) hold an important place in human society but can negatively impact ecosystems when roaming freely outdoors. Aims Specific research goals included identifying factors associated with cat abundance over the year. Methods We deployed trail cameras in Wellington County, Ontario, Canada to estimate what habitat characteristics were associated with cats in the spring/summer and the fall/winter. Within a subset of our study area, we also compared these findings to a previous study that used walking surveys. Key results In the spring/summer, cat abundance was positively related to proximity to buildings and negatively related to distance to agriculture. In the fall/winter, cat abundance was negatively related to the presence of coyotes (Canis latrans) and positively related to proximity to major roads. Overall, cat abundance was higher in urban than rural locations, and higher in spring/summer compared to fall/winter. Both our results from trail cameras and walking surveys from a previous study identified that median income, woodlots, and major roads were important habitat characteristics associated with cats during the summer, and we discuss the costs and benefits associated with both approaches. Conclusions Free-roaming cats are associated with different habitat characteristics in spring/summer versus fall/winter and vary in abundance across landscape type and season. Implications The development of management strategies aimed at reducing free-roaming cats in temperate areas should incorporate seasonal and landscape patterns.

Context Many prey species exhibit antipredator behaviours when threatened, yet prey response to temporal variation in predation risk is not well-understood, despite being foundational to predator–prey dynamics and an important consideration among game population managers and recreationalists. Aims To examine white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) behaviour in response to temporal variation in predation risk imposed by recreational hunters and to assess the effect of deer sex and age on antipredator response. Methods Global positioning system (GPS) collars were used to monitor behaviour of female and male deer in response to diel and weekly patterns of recreational hunting in Alabama, USA. Key results Deer behaviour on weekends (i.e. Friday–Sunday), corresponding to periods of elevated risk, was similar to behaviour on weekdays (i.e. Monday–Thursday). However, when behaviour was examined by individual day of the week, movement rate decreased by 17%, net displacement decreased by 31%, and the probability of activity decreased by 24% during daylight hours on Sundays compared with Fridays. Behavioural changes among days were not detected at night. Daytime behavioural shifts persisted until Wednesdays, despite lower weekday hunting activity. Behavioural variation by deer sex and age was also observed. Conclusions Deer perceive temporal variation in predation risk and modify their behaviour to reduce the likelihood of predation. Variation in response across sex and age classes may be driven by previous experience with hunters and/or survival- and fitness-related trade-offs that affect prey decisions at the individual level. Antipredator response was not initially detectable when examined at a broad temporal scale (i.e. weekend vs weekday); however, a behavioural response was shown with a finer-scale analysis (i.e. individual day of the week), which more closely reflected the pattern of risk fluctuation. Implications Our findings demonstrated the acute awareness of a large ungulate to temporal changes in predation risk and provided insight into ways in which these prey behaviourally respond to reduce the likelihood of predatory encounters. Future studies should consider the temporal scale of risk fluctuation when examining antipredator response to avoid false conclusions. Ungulate hunters and managers can use this information to more efficiently achieve their goals.