Urban Wildlife Organizations and the Institutional Entanglements of Conservation’s Urban Turn

Abstract Urban wildlife organizations—which include groups focused on wildlife rehabilitation, rescue, removal, advocacy, education, and conflict resolution—have typically been viewed as out of step with the goals of wildlife conservation because of their focus on encounters with individual nonhuman animals, common species, and degraded habitats. The recent shift by large conservationNGOs toward a “humans and nature together” framework, because of its focus on urban natures, has brought the field into discursive relation with urban wildlife organizations. Drawing on a case study of four wildlife organizations in an urban center, this research explores their discourse about human-wildlife relationships in the city, and the challenges and opportunities presented by their emergent intersections.