Urban Ethology: An Anthropological Approach to Wildlife in the City
by INA JANE WUNDRAM
Ina Jane Wundram is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Georgia State University in Atlanta. The work on which this article is based was made possible by a grant from the Dean's Advisory Committee for the Support of Research at Georgia State University.
Urban ethology is the study of animal behavior in the city and its relationship to human beliefs and behavior. This new fied of inquiry has special relevance for applied anthropologists in a number of ways. The distribution and behavior of wildlife species in the city is an indicator of environmental quality, associated with a number of medical and economic considerations, and affected by the unconscious behavior, beliefs, and attitudes of city dwellers. As urbanization spreads around the globe, it seems imperative that a discipline be established for the study of city wildlife from an anthropological perspective. Urban ethology, though new and formative, is beginning to serve this need.
Human Organization. Vol. 40, No. 2 (Summer 1981) , pp. 168-171 (4 pages)