In Italy and many other countries where lockdown was imposed, wildlife appeared to return to urban centres, but several sightings turned out to be false.
Wild boar, porcupines, dolphins, ducks and even a puma. Since many nations entered quarantine to curb the spread of coronavirus, leaving urban centres and streets semi-deserted, it seems that animals have taken advantage of the situation to reappear, more or less tentatively, in those spaces from which they had been forcibly driven out by rampant urbanisation.
The narrative of nature reclaiming its space is captivating, especially in these dark times marked by worry and uncertainty, and it is therefore easy to accept it uncritically and fall into error. Many of the photos and stories of "animals fighting back" that have circulated during this period and gone viral on social media have in fact turned out to be false, or at least inaccurate.
Take the video of dolphins swimming in the canals of Venice, which was actually filmed in Cagliari, Sardinia, or the sighting of dozens of hares in a park in Milan, which turned out instead to be eastern cottontails (Sylvilagus), non-native lagomorphs introduced from North America whose presence in the park was well known. On one hand there are dozens of photos and videos in which the location and date do not correspond to reality; on the other, there are sightings that are genuinely real, but where the presence of certain species — perfectly normal in itself — is being attributed to the quarantine.
Animals have in fact been occupying urban centres for decades — it is the phenomenon of urban animal migration. It concerns in particular species with marked ecological plasticity, capable of adapting to life in an urban environment, such as hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus), foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and numerous bird species.
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With those necessary caveats in mind, we can say that several animals have indeed been observed in unusual places or at unusual times, and some of them might even be wondering at the reason for such quiet. It is natural: with millions of people confined to their homes, the streets, parks and beaches are emptier than ever. To understand the true scale of the phenomenon, however, a complete picture and reliable data are needed. That is why the Italian Theriological Association (Atit) has asked its members to take part in the first large-scale observational study dedicated to quantifying the effects of coronavirus prevention measures on the activity patterns of wild fauna.
"This event represents a unique large-scale experiment of its kind," the association wrote, "one that can allow us to better understand the effect of human disturbance on the activity patterns of Italian mammals, in particular ungulates, carnivores and large rodents. Being able to observe the effects of this change is a unique opportunity, because events of this kind occur very rarely over time."
In various parts of the world, the presence of animals — both wild and domestic — roaming freely through deserted city streets has been documented. The most recent episode featured a herd of cashmere goats that "ran riot" through the streets of the Welsh town of Llandudno. The goats, which live wild on the nearby limestone headland of Great Orme, took advantage of the quiet to graze on the hedges and lawns of the town.
Of a rather different nature was the sighting in Chile, where a young puma (Puma concolor) reportedly wandered through the streets of two municipalities in the Metropolitan Region of Santiago before being caught by law enforcement and taken to the veterinary clinic of the Metropolitan zoo, where it awaited release. Here too the animal's presence was initially attributed to the lockdown, but Cristóbal Briceño, a professor at the Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences of the University of Chile (Favet), believes the cause may be the exceptional drought afflicting the country, which is forcing herbivores and predators to move away from their usual habitats.
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We are, after all, aware of several cases in which, albeit for different reasons, urban areas have been abandoned, allowing the return of wildlife — testament to the fact that when humans take a step back, nature immediately starts to breathe again. The best-known example is Chernobyl: more than thirty years after the nuclear accident, the biodiversity of the zone, now entirely free of human presence, has increased exponentially. Populations of wolves, elk, brown bears, foxes and Przewalski's horses have grown enormously (although the true effect of radiation on the animals is not yet clear).
The proliferation of fake news about animals returning to cities and a supposed revenge of nature may be linked to a burning need for positive stories to hold on to in such a difficult moment. There is something reassuring about thinking that at least animals can benefit from our confinement and roam about in peace.
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Or perhaps, more or less unconsciously, we want these stories to be true and for animals to come back and fill our lives again, because we are victims of what George Monbiot calls "ecological boredom" and we have a desperate need for nature and to rediscover our own animality. We hope that when the emergency is over and we emerge from this limbo, we will still be able to remember this need and that we will be willing to make sacrifices so that the dividing line between the domestic and the wild becomes less pronounced.
