Aspen, Colorado

In Fuzz, Roach visits Aspen, Colorado to investigate the city’s approach to mitigating human-bear encounters. As the city’s population has grown, so has the number of bear-induced human fatalities. While government agencies still endorse killing any bear that has killed a human, Stewart Breck works to reduce these incidents. Breck advocates for refuse control, building modification, and attractant limitation to decrease bear activity within human populous areas. The city has a policy of fining companies and individuals who break waste disposal laws, but these fines are rarely paid.

Vatican City

In “The Gulls of St. Peter’s”, the author travels to the Vatican to examine how the archdiocese confronts human-animal cohabitation. In 2017, hours before Easter Mass, a flock of gulls descended upon the basilica uprooting the floral arrangements and scattering soil. The director of garbage and gardens and Father Carlo advocate for cohabitation and...