ABSTRACT
Ecological and sociological factors work in concert to create urban wildlife management issues, including invasive species. Introduced species become invasive when they expand their range from point of introduction and have significant negative impacts on ecosystems, native wildlife species, and humans. The list of introduced/invasive species into the US mainland, Hawaii, and Guam includes 673 fish species, 50 amphibians, 124 reptiles, 125 birds, and 86 mammals. To some degree, urban communities have become the “target” of introduced/invasive species. This is largely due to the fact that the spread of invasive exotic species can be correlated with the spread of humans and urbanization. The European rabbit, exported to Australia in 1859 for hunting purposes, is a classic example of an introduced species turned invasive. Pro-wildlife advocates reject of the trap-neuter-return tenants due to their inconsistency with known effects of invasive species on island and continental populations of native wildlife and an overwhelming lack of credible scientific research supporting them.
