Group of Ducks on the grass near the Louvre museum in Paris – Animal Photography
Credit: Jacques Julien
Location: Paris – France
The lockdown had a significant impact on the lives of wild animals in cities. With the reduction in road traffic and human activity, I observed an increased presence of wild animals in urban areas.
Reports indicated that wild boars were spotted on the streets of Barcelona and Berlin during the lockdown. Similarly, deer were seen roaming the streets of Nara, Japan, where they traditionally move freely in parks and temples. In Singapore, monkeys were observed wandering city streets, searching for food in urban areas.
While it may appear that wild animals adapt more easily to urban environments during lockdowns, it is crucial to remember that they are still wild and can pose public safety risks. It is important not to feed them and to allow them to roam freely without human intervention.
I was fortunate to approach this duck family without causing any disturbance, allowing me to capture this photo without the need for a telephoto lens. They appeared less stressed and fearful compared to the ducks I typically encounter on the docks.
“There are ducks all year round in Paris, wild boars in the forests just outside Barcelona,” describes Benoît Fontaine, conservation biologist at the Center for Ecology and Conservation Sciences of the National Museum of Natural History. Animals are simply more visible in spaces freed up by humans, but all this is quite anecdotal compared to the degradation that nature has suffered for decades. “
“This plasticity of nature, this ability of certain fish or birds to frequent spaces quickly when they are neglected, is a phenomenon that we are all familiar with,” adds Jean-David Abel, vice-president of France Nature Environnement. But nature does not take its place. We just look better: we notice species that were next to us but that we could not see. “
