As the entire West is entering into increasingly unprecedented territory with lockdowns, quarantines and social-distancing orders, wildlife in towns and cities has already begun to take over what once were the epicenters of human activity.
Increasing numbers of animals which normally inhabit the areas outside large cities and towns, are now feeling brave enough to explore urban areas, since their unusual peace and quiet seem to offer them a safe environment in which to do so.
Social media is full of videos showing animals taking over towns and cities as a result of the recent lockdowns. While some of the videos are obviously fake, most of them are genuine and show how animals can alter their normal behavior in such conditions.
One such video comes from the town of Llandudno, in Wales.
There, the deserted streets of the town came back to vibrant life, but not with humans this time but rather with goats, which entered the city and wandered freely around the main streets of the town.
the goats rampaging around lockdown Llandudno are a true inspiration pic.twitter.com/bfDz8yL3sx
— Hannah Jane Parkinson (@ladyhaja) March 31, 2020
The beautiful animals were even seen eating grass and bushes from private front gardens of many houses!
Earlier in March, when the coronavirus pandemic was hitting Asian nations hard, deer from Japan’s famous Nara Park left the premises of the green space looking for food in the middle of the city of Nara.
CCTV footage caught the beautiful animals wandering around, munching on anything they could find in the nearly-deserted city.
Less tourists in Nara = less people feeding the deer in the parks 🌷🌱 Now they're venturing out into the city eating flowers and plants, per Fuji TV #coronavirus#新型コロナウイルス の影響で海外観光客の減少が続く奈良公園で、鹿せんべいをもらえなくなってしまったシカちゃん達 😢 pic.twitter.com/yUFWJ4S9sj
— Kurumi Mori (@rumireports) March 6, 2020
However, it’s not just small or medium-sized towns and cities experiencing these incidents.
Large metropolises such as Paris, have also seen peculiar scenes involving animals in these times.
Parisians, who have been in lockdown for several days now, have seen ducks walking around the Comédie Française theatre, taking in the many sights in the City of Lights.
The birds most likely left the Seine River in an attempt to find some food, since tourists and locals are not feeding them anymore.
VIDEO: 🇫🇷 As France continues its #coronavirus confinement, wildlife is claiming back some of the public space. Ducks are no longer content to stay near the Seine river, they now wander the quiet streets of Paris as on Friday evening near the Comédie Française theatre pic.twitter.com/gacaOvvcbK
— AFP news agency (@AFP) March 29, 2020
Another, much more unsettling, video showed a group of starving pigeons in a city in Spain trying to find some food from the shopping trolley of a passerby.
The video shows the extent of the problem that city-dwelling animals now face, as most humans are not feeding them anymore, and they are not able to find much food on their own in such an urbanized place.
Someone sent this video of Spain.. Since no one is feeding pigeons now they started following humans for feed.. Harsh times of our lives #CoronavirusLockdown #COVIDー19 pic.twitter.com/rknBEeRReF
— Asmatullah Niazi (@AsmatullahNiazi) March 26, 2020
Similar scenes, either of hungry animals and birds, or happy ones showing them finally enjoying the delights of urban life unfettered, have been seen in countless towns and cities across the globe.
Coronavirus in Catalonia — Boars descend in droves from the hills to the very center of Arenys de Mar, a coastal town near Barcelona, after more than a week of lockdownpic.twitter.com/rtJ3Wm9P9i
— Alfons López Tena (@alfonslopeztena) March 25, 2020
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