It’s strange how 3 years can feel like a lifetime and a blip all at once, but March 2020 was a pivotal moment in human history. Seemingly defined by panic and fear in those early pandemic days, as the weeks dragged on we settled into a new rhythm. By April 5th, we were at the peak of pandemic lockdowns, with over 4.4 billion people – 57% of the planet – under some form of stay-at home order.
These new routines had unexpected consequences, and soon fear gave way to hope and optimism. Social media and news outlets became awash with posts and articles depicting the return of wildlife to the cities – “nature is healing” and “we are the virus” being popular taglines.
Screengrab of the viral video claiming a Malabar civet was roaming the streets of Kozhikode, India. Fact-checkers have since confirmed that it is actually the more common small Indian civet.
Urban Wildlife thrived during lockdowns
Reports of dolphins reclaiming Venetian canals, photos of drunken elephants napping in Yunnan tea gardens, and a video of the critically endangered Malabar civet being sighted for the first time since the nineties became sensations online.
While many of these claims have now been debunked, this “anthopause” of restricted human movements provided ecologists with an unprecedented opportunity to learn more about how we affect the natural world and what happens when we take an abrupt step back.
Pollution did reduce during lockdown
Holed up in our homes, we docked our ships, grounded planes, and semi-retired our cars. Environmental effects were almost immediate, and the reduction in pollutants was so great that atmospheric changes could be detected from space. In fact, lockdowns caused the single biggest drop in carbon dioxide emissions since records began.
In Northern India, the reduction in particulate matter pollution meant residents of Jalandhar and Saharanpur were able to see the snow-capped Himalaya’s with their naked eye for the first time in thirty years.
Even noise pollution abated. With restrictions on ferry transportation, seaplane activity, and recreational boating, global marine traffic dropped by nearly 10%. This caused underwater sound pressure to drop significantly, providing blissful relief for marine animals who endure chronic stress from the never-ending commotion.
Above the waves on the Florida shoreline, lockdown-related beach closures are being credited for the 39% jump in nesting success amongst loggerhead turtles. Without the disorientating resort lights and lack of obstructions such as litter and sandcastles, positive impacts were realised even in conservations areas. Grecian loggerheads also benefited from tourist-free coastlines, spending time in warmer waters close to shore that are optimal for egg development.
Positive effects of reduced human travel were also realised inland. With public and private transport out of the picture, the wildlife trade in Vietnam and Cambodia stalled as middleman traders were unable travel freely. Terrestrial animals had greater freedom to wander and mountain goats in the Canadian Rockies were able to spend more time at mineral licks thanks to reduced traffic.
Wildlife Woes
However, not all is as rosy as it seems. While roadkill incidences dropped globally during lockdown periods, they came back with a vengeance as restrictions eased in the UK. With more people holidaying on home soil and venturing into rural areas, animal-vehicle collisions soared higher than even pre-pandemic levels by an astonishing 54%.
Urban-dwelling animals did not fare much better. So reliant on food discarded or provided by humans, they risked starvation while we worked from home and binge-watched Tiger King. The macaques of Uttar Pradesh usually have a peaceful relationship with their human neighbours, but lack of food during shelter-in-place restrictions caused a surge in aggression. While attacks on humans were once few and far between, doctors were treating 8-10 patients daily for bite wounds and scratches.
The humans and macaques of Ayodhya lived in harmony pre-pandemic. Temple monkeys are known to develop emotional connections with people, and may also have also been distressed by the abrupt loss of their familiar faces
Like their cousins across the Indian Ocean, vervet monkeys in Durban felt the shift in human-animal relationships. Here, however, it was humans hurting monkeys. Fearful of virus transmission, people shot them with pellet guns. This resulted in the highest number of injured vervets in forty years, with many not surviving their bullet wounds, internal bleeding, and broken bones.
Even the most vulnerable species were caught up in the pandemonium of pandemic protocols. The pangolin is one of the world’s most trafficked mammals and experienced even greater pressure during lockdown periods, with trade seizures increasing five-fold.
Early pandemic chaos and political instability in Guinea-Bissau resulted in people defaulting to traditional medicine for support. Believed to summon good fortune if ingested, over 2,000 critically endangered Hooded Vultures were poisoned and beheaded to harvest their brains for ceremonial use.
Lockdowns wrecked havoc in the wildlife tourism industry
With wildlife tourism supporting nearly 22 million jobs worldwide, this industry that supports conservation initiatives was hit hard by international travel bans. Funding for anti-poaching units and translocation services dried up, and many rangers lost their jobs and were forced to live off the land to survive the economic hardships. Hunting for bushmeat is much cheaper than buying pork and beef from the store, so subsistence poaching rose significantly.
Wildlife Poaching Surged during Lockdowns
Commercial poaching also increased. Presumably emboldened by the lack of tourists, South Africa saw a spike in rhino poaching during the very first week of lockdown. Alien species were also emboldened by lack of human presence. In Italy, there was concern about the increased day-time activity of invasive Eastern cottontail rabbits, who are competing with the native hare population.
Seabirds in the South Atlantic suffered catastrophic losses due to delays in invasive species management programmes. Hindered by travel restrictions, a long-planned project to rid Gough Island of predatory rodents was postponed. Introduced by sailors in the 19th-century, these murder mice are 2-3 times the size of their European ancestors and feast on live chicks. With the project delayed by a year, they contributed to the loss of over 2 million chicks – including the critically endangered Tristan albatross. Also home to the endangered MacGillivray’s prion, this species did not see a single fledgeling survive from the 2020 breeding season.
Vampire mice feast on live Tristan albatross chicks and many succumb to their injuries. Less than 5000 individuals exist, and Gough Island is the breeding ground for 99% of the world’s population, so mouse eradication programmes are essential.
Environmental Destruction surged during Lockdowns
It was not just wildlife suffering from the “new normal”, the environment also experienced increased pressure as people turned to natural resources to supplement lost income. A quarter of Tanzania’s landmass is comprised of protected areas, but even these ecosystems were exploited by desperate people harvesting wild plant species in attempt to find a covid cure. Certain areas in the Brazilian Amazon saw a 168% upsurge in deforestation thanks to lockdown-induced redundancies.
In the West, a different type of environment exploitation occurred. Nature areas that stayed open were subjected to abnormally large crowds of people seeking to break the monotony of lockdowns, with the Swiss National Park seeing a 47% increase in visitors. The heavy foot traffic expanded trails, destroyed or altered habitats, and even trampled endangered orchid species.
Plastic Pollution
Those who stayed home were no less damaging, and instead turned to online shopping to cure their boredom. Demand for plastic wrapping skyrocketed, with one Spanish packaging company reporting sales growths of 40%.
Personal protective equipment was a necessary component in fighting disease transmission, but it also meant disposing of huge quantities of single-use plastics. The city of Wuhan – ground zero of the outbreak – produced an extra 240 tons of medical waste daily.
So what was the impact of lockdowns on wildlife?
While the anthropause yielded ground-breaking insights into human impacts on the natural world, effects were incredibly nuanced and varied by species, time, and location. Where benefits of human absence were realised, they were mostly temporary and the “anthropulse” of activity as restrictions eased resulted in surges beyond even pre-pandemic levels as people scrambled to make up for lost time. However, the pandemic provided perhaps the most enlightening lesson with regards to our impact on the planet and its wildlife.
It has become increasingly fashionable to consider humanity a pestilence for nature, and misanthropy is rife within conservation. One of the hottest topics in the industry at the moment is human-wildlife conflict; we focus on how detrimental contact between animals and people is. Crop damage, livestock depredation, and injury to both man and beast are some of the most extreme examples. But the pandemic and all its associated management strategies have revealed hidden benefits of human influence.
Gough Island represents our dual role as both protectors and destroyers of nature: while it is true that the Tristan albatross would likely go extinct within a few decades without human intervention to control the mouse population, they wouldn’t be in this situation had we not introduced the mice to the island all those years ago.
Conclusion
Nevertheless, conservation is a discipline that focuses on the future. Although important to learn from historic mistakes, we strive towards better tomorrows and to preserve the natural world for future generations to enjoy. Although a difficult and tragic time for many, conservationists must use what we learnt during this unprecedented time to improve current strategies and bolter weak points in the industry going forward.
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Wrritten by: Amber Chapman