While You sit at home, they come out to the streets
Pic. 3 of 23
Coronavirus
lockdowns globally have given parts of the natural world a rare opportunity to
experience life with hardly any humans around. Animals in urban areas are
exploring emptied streets and waterways, and delighting human inhabitants along
the way.
While many of these
are not unique sightings, the human restrictions due to the coronavirus
pandemic seem to have given animals the confidence to go deeper into our cities
and stay for longer. Others are enjoying having nature reserves and parks all
to themselves, and some authorities report a boom in wildlife while tourists
are away.
Photo: Wild
nature takes over the city streets during lockdown
The Bosphorus in
Istanbul, Turkey is normally one of the world's busiest marine routes. Huge
tankers, cargo ships and passenger boats criss-cross the straits that cut the
city in half 24 hours a day. Now, with a lull in traffic and fishermen staying
at home during the city's lockdown, dolphins are swimming and jumping in the
waters. Recently, dolphins have also been spotted on the Venetian Canal in
Italy.
Boars were seen
snuffling and foraging for food around the city of Haifa before the pandemic,
but the absence of humans has encouraged them further.
In Albania, pink
flamingos are flourishing in lagoons on the country's west coastline, where
numbers have increased by a third to 3,000.
In Thailand, a herd
of 30 dugongs (also known as sea cow) was caught on camera swimming in the Hat
Chao Mai National Park where tourism has ground to a halt. Several cougars found wandering the streets of Santiago, Chile were captured
and released back to their natural habitats.
And who could
forget the famous Kashmiri goats of Llandudno? They enjoyed the deserted town
in Wales and had a scamper around last month.