Acta Scientiarum Polonorum
Silvarum Colendarum Ratio et Industria Lignaria

The progressive processes of urbanization and synurbization are conducive to the creation of ecosystems that stimulate the growth of wildlife populations. This increase affects how people perceive wild animals, but also how they behave. A survey was conducted on a group of 424 respondents to determine the opinion of Poznan residents on the impact on their lives posed by animals living in the urban area. The respondents were asked to declare how often they spend their free time in the forest near their place of residence. Almost half of the
respondents (49.06%) turned out to be regular visitors to the forests, i.e. they visited the forest at least once a week. Birds (89%), roe deer (47%), hedgehogs (35%) and wild boars (33%) were the wild animals most frequently observed by these inhabitants of Poznan. Nearly a quarter (23%) of respondents showed fear of wild animals living in the city, while the action most commonly accepted by the general public consisted in
the proper protection of potential food sources (87.4%). The study was carried out in 2017 using a diagnostic on-line questionnaire.