Group of Ducks on the grass near the Louvre museum in Paris – Animal Photography
Credit: Jacques Julien
Location: Paris – France
The COVID-19 lockdown had a significant impact on the lives of wild animals in cities. With reduced road traffic and human activity, there was an increased presence of wild animals in urban areas.
Wild boars were spotted on the streets of Barcelona and Berlin during the lockdown. Deer were seen roaming the streets of Nara, Japan, where they traditionally move freely in parks and temples. In Singapore, monkeys wandered city streets, searching for food in urban areas.
While it may seem that wild animals adapted more easily to urban environments during lockdowns, it is crucial to remember that they are still wild and can pose safety risks. It is important not to feed them and to allow them to roam freely without human intervention.
I was fortunate enough to approach this duck family without causing any disturbance, which allowed me to capture this photo without needing a telephoto lens. They appeared less stressed and fearful compared to the ducks I typically see at the docks.
“There are ducks year-round in Paris, wild boars in the forests just outside Barcelona,” explains 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 of this is quite anecdotal compared to the degradation nature has suffered for decades.”
“This adaptability of nature, this ability of certain fish or birds to quickly occupy spaces when human activity decreases, is a phenomenon we are all familiar with,” adds Jean-David Abel, vice-president of France Nature Environnement. “But nature isn’t reclaiming its territory. We’re simply observing more closely: we notice species that were beside us all along but that we couldn’t see before.”
