The wild lives of our urban neighbours with Dan Werb

“It is a raccoon city that exists in the city of Toronto.”

Raccoons cracking raccoon-proof compost bins, coyotes finding refuge in city neighbourhoods, and giant Pacific octopuses making homes in discarded refrigerators. These are just a few examples of wildlife adapting to urban life in extraordinary ways, while challenging our ideas about where nature belongs.

On this episode of Explore: A Canadian Geographic Podcast, host David McGuffin welcomes epidemiologist and bestselling author Dr. Dan Werb to discuss his latest book, Our Wild Familiars: How Animals Are Adapting to Cities and Reshaping the Natural World.

From Toronto’s back alleys to Seattle’s industrial waters and Saudi Arabia's garbage dumps, Werb investigates the ingenuity of animals living alongside us. He explains how raccoons learn — and spread new skills through overlapping social networks — why urban coyotes are becoming bolder, and the remarkable observations of baboons incorporating dogs into their communities.

McGuffin and Werb discuss the “great urban shift”: how habitat loss, climate change and plentiful resources are drawing wildlife into cities. They also explore why treating cities as ecosystems matters for conservation and how the health of our wild neighbours is connected to our own.

About our guest

Dan Werb is a Toronto-based epidemiologist and award-winning author. His previous book, The Invisible Siege, won the 2022 Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction. Our Wild Familiars is shortlisted for the same prize.

Listen next

Explore more conversations with fellow 2026 Writers’ Trust shortlisted authors:

• Episode 134: Trina Moyles on Black Bear.
• Episode 91: Julian Brave NoiseCat for We Survived the Night: An Indigenous Reckoning. He discusses his Oscar-nominated documentary Sugarcane and the legacy of residential schools.

Support exploration

Bid on polar cruises, excursions with explorers, signed books and more in the RCGS Silent Auction, running until November 8 at rcgsauction.com. Proceeds support the Royal Canadian Geographical Society’s education, scientific and exploration programs.

Explore is hosted by David McGuffin and produced by David McGuffin and Explore Podcast Productions in partnership with Canadian Geographic.

Canadian Geographic:

• Alexandra Pope, editor-in-chief
• Madigan Cotterill, digital and travel editor
• Caroline Workman, digital marketing manager

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