How Is the COVID-19 Outbreak Affecting Wildlife around the World?

Lockdown's Silver Lining? Different Levels of Roadkill during the COVID-19 Times in Lithuania

The impact of COVID-19 restrictions on human and vehicular mobility on the number of roadkills of wild mammals, and roe deer in particular, was assessed in Lithuania. We statistically analyzed the distribution of all mammals and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) as the most abundant species annually from 2002 to 2022 and monthly from 2020 to 2021, including during the two restriction periods. Notably, there was a marked decrease in roadkill incidents on main, national and regional roads, particularly in April-May 2020 (the beginning of lockdown period I) and November-December 2020 (the beginning of lockdown period II), 5.1-20.8% and 33.6-54.4%, respectively. During these months, collisions with mammals on the A14 main road were reduced by 75-90%. However, there was a significant increase in the number of roadkills in urban areas, resulting in the total number of mammal-vehicle and roe deer-vehicle collisions in 2020 and 2021 being higher than expected based on long-term trends. However, after restrictions were eased, collision numbers with wildlife on the main, national and regional roads increased again and became higher than expected.

The effect of COVID-19 confinement on the activity behaviour of red deer

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically affected people's social habits, especially those related to outdoor activities. We intended to understand the effects of the two national lockdowns in Portugal on the presence and activity of a wild population of red deer (Cervus elaphus) by analysing data from camera traps installed at Lousã mountain, in the central part of Portugal. The cameras were set between 2019 and 2021, and a total of 2434 individual contacts of red deer and 182 contacts of people were recorded. Results showed a higher human presence in the mountain area during the COVID-19 outbreak, especially during the first lockdown in 2020 (0.05 ± 0.17 individuals/day), compared to the same period of the year before the pandemic (0.02 ± 0.05 individuals/day), which resulted in an increase of people by 150%. The increase in human presence did not have a significant direct effect on the presence of red deer. Despite the low overlap of activity patterns between people and red deer, deer showed avoidance behaviour in the 24 h after the detection of human presence on camera traps, as well as an increase in daily activity during the 2020 lockdown, showing red deer's awareness of human visitation. These results showed that people's increased search for cultural services in wild environments during COVID-19 lockdowns, such as hiking and biking, seemed to influence the population of red deer, albeit momentarily.

COVID-19's Impact on the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance: Challenging Times and Resilience from Its Members

The worldwide pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 challenged conservation organizations. The lack of tourism has benefited or negatively affected wildlife organizations in various ways, with several primate sanctuaries struggling to cope with the COVID-19 crisis and to keep providing for their inhabitants. In addition, the genetic similarity between great apes and humans puts them at higher risk than any other species for the transmission of COVID-19. PASA is a non-profit organization comprising 23 sanctuaries, and cares for many species of primate, including African great apes. In light of the pandemic, we aimed to understand the direct effects of COVID-19 on PASA management throughout three time periods: before (2018-2019), at the start of (2019-2020), and during (2020-2021) the pandemic. We collected data via annual surveys for PASA members and ran Generalized Linear Mixed Models to highlight any significant differences in their management that could be linked to COVID-19. Our findings demonstrated no particular impact on the number of primates rescued, employees, or expenses. However, revenues have been decreasing post-COVID-19 due to the lack of income from tourism and volunteer programs. Nonetheless, our results reveal a form of resilience regarding the sanctuaries and the strategy applied to maintain their management. Consequently, we emphasize the specific impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak and its repercussions for conservation work. We discuss the difficulties that sanctuaries have faced throughout the crisis and present the best measures to prevent future outbreaks and protect biodiversity.

The impacts of COVID-19 lockdown on wildlife in Deccan Plateau, India

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented changes in human activity via extensive lockdowns worldwide. Large-scale shifts in human activities bestowed both positive and negative impacts on wildlife. Unforeseen reduction in the activities of people allowed wildlife to venture outside of forested areas to exploit newfound habitats and increase their diurnal activities. While on a negative note, a reduction in forest-related law enforcement led to substantial increase in illegal activities such as poaching. We conducted mammal surveys in forested and nearby farmland of a fragmented landscape under two distinct scenarios: pre-lockdown and lockdown. An increase in poaching activities observed during the lockdown period in our study area provided us an opportunity to investigate the impact of the lockdown on wildlife. Camera trapping data of four highly poached mammalian species, namely black-naped hare Lepus nigricollis, wild pig Sus scrofa, four-horned antelope Tetracerus quadricornis and leopard Panthera pardus were considered to investigate activity patterns and habitat use, to understand the effect of lockdown. The pre-lockdown period was used as a baseline to compare any changes in trends of activity patterns, habitat use and detection probabilities of targeted species. Species-specific changes in activity patterns of study species were observed, with an increment in daytime activity during lockdown. The results showed species-specific increase in the habitat use of study species during lockdown. Reduction in the detection probability of all study species was witnessed. This is the first study to highlight the effect of the COVID-19 lockdown on the responses of wildlife by considering the changes in their temporal and spatial use before and during lockdown. The knowledge gained on wildlife during reduced human mobility because of the pandemic aid in understanding the effect of human disturbances and developing future conservation strategies in the shared space, to manage both wildlife and humans.

Anthropause Opportunities: Experimental Perturbation of Road Traffic and the Potential Effects on Wildlife

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic severely reduced many human activities. So pronounced was the change, it has given rise to the term “anthropause”: the considerable alteration of modern human activities. Among these was surface transportation, with prolonged traffic reductions, in excess, of 50% in many countries. Roads and traffic are responsible for functionally fragmenting ecosystems, wildlife populations, and species interactions. The unintentional “dialing-down” of traffic has given continuous monitoring systems of wildlife-vehicle conflict a unique opportunity to study the consequences of perturbing this source of wildlife disturbance and mortality. Experimental manipulation of traffic at the global scale would not have been possible without mitigation responses to SARS-CoV-2. Such a perturbation allows robust empirical investigation into wildlife responses to traffic, including changes in mortality, behavior, genetic connectivity, and knock-on ecosystem effects, the responses to which can be replicated across a global network of wildlife-vehicle conflict monitoring systems. We review the extent to which these extensive data-collection systems provide the primary source of data to study many of these responses, providing the raw material to understand some striking wildlife consequences of the anthropause.

How Is Wildlife Affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic? Lockdown Effect on the Road Mortality of Hedgehogs

Globally, wildlife is affected by unprecedented changes related to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this paper, the lockdown effect on the traffic-related mortality in hedgehogs in an urban area was studied. Comparing the pre-pandemic (2018 and 2019) and pandemic (2020) years, we showed that hedgehog roadkill levels during the lockdown period were over 50% lower (which means a decrease greater than the decrease in road traffic in the same period measured by the number of accidents or the average number of vehicles per day). Based on literature data, we showed that this may mean at least tens of thousands of hedgehogs have survived on a national scale. We report the need to start intensive research on the possible demographic and genetic effects of this unique phenomenon. We also ask how stable the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic will be on wildlife and whether the lockdown (which is an anthropause) may reverse the negative trends in the decline in the number of wild species, including hedgehogs.