How the COVID-19 was perceived by the wildlife, globally.

Pumas crossed roads safely in California, birds sang softly in the UK, fishes thrived on quiet coral reefs in Kerala, that’s how wildlife reacted to the COVID-19 imposed humans’ lockdown.

The restrictions on human activities imposed by governments around the planet to control the spread of COVID-19 have been a trauma for us all. Although with some difficulty, science has moved on and has conducted a series of studies on the possible benefits, but also negative impacts, of the lockdown for wildlife (and sometimes even for vegetation). In the media, there have been images and several videos of wild animal species appearing as far as our cities, although not all reports were as unusual as claimed by the media.

Human confinement may have been one of the greatest and involuntary “experiments” of sudden and intense cessation of human activities of our time. And it may have provided a historical snapshot of the effects of a lockdown on human well-being, the environment and wildlife, including the oceans.

The restrictions imposed by governments have proved to be an unprecedented opportunity to understand how human activity affects wildlife. In the midst of many difficulties, scientists have tried their hand at comparing historical data collected before the pandemic with observations collected during the…