Animals’ welfare is better preserved during times of quarantine

Elizabeth Bernate

Although there are many perceived negatives when it comes to being under quarantine, there are positives for the animals who are not.

Although the stay-at-home orders issued over the past few months have curtailed humans’ actions, they have had the opposite effect on animals. An article published by Narcity April 17 highlights the benefits that result for animals when humans stay home.

According to Narcity, since the stay-at-home order issued for Florida in late March, there have been sightings of sea turtles, manatees and endangered species arising on social media. There is hope from wildlife experts that fewer disturbances to Florida’s beaches will allow nesting season for the sea turtle to flourish because there are fewer humans encroaching upon their nests. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, illegal harvesting, invasion of habitat, and pollution are just a few of the man-made problems that have resulted in many species of sea turtles becoming endangered.

Stay-at-home orders have not only benefited animals in Florida, but in other states and countries as well, as the majority of the problems animals are faced with increase with a growing human population.

According to the Los Angeles Times, in April, president Gerry Hans of the Friends of Griffith Park, a nonprofit in Los Angeles, reported a vast increase in the number of wildlife seen throughout the park. The wildlife sightings include coyotes, falcons, deer, woodpeckers, western tanagers, black-headed grosbeaks, hooded orioles, warblers, opossums, skunks, bobcats and a mountain lion. Even though it is still too early to tell whether this is directly related to quarantine, the time of the increase of animals and the time of the stay-at-home order are too suspicious to be a coincidence.

However, what has been found to be directly correlated to stay-at-home orders in that area is the decrease to zero in reported roadkill of the western grey squirrel, rabbits, ring-necked snakes and western toads - all due to less traffic moving through the area. In fact, it is believed that like many other places, the lack of people in the park has given animals more land, which provides more habitat, protection and nutrition, therefore increasing the percentage rate of survival for the creatures. The 2020 Griffith Park raptor survey results indicated a record jump of the number of falcon, hawk and owl nests from a year ago.

It does not stop there. As mentioned by the BBC, a wild herd of approximately 122 Kashmiri goats took over the town of Llandudno, Wales, by running rampant in the streets while people were quarantined in their houses. They ate anything they could find, from front hedges and flowers in the town center to backyard gardens. This occurred during the pandemic lockdown due to the absence of people, as residents believed the goats were scared of people. However, they also claim that the animals provided a source of entertainment for the people adhering to the quarantine looking out through their windows. These actions of the goats emphasize the true impact humans have on the environment - so much so that animals will modify their behavior and restrict their habitats because of the fear humans have instilled in them.

Earlier in March, Live Science reported on monkeys that ran wild throughout the Thailand city of Lopburi. Before the nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19, there were thousands of crab-eating macaques that resided in the nearby Phra Prang Sam Yot temple complex who were used to being fed by the hundreds of tourists that passed through there along with an annual festival whose main purpose was to let the temple monkeys feast. However, since the quarantine, the starving temple monkeys ran loose on the city streets looking for food, running into conflict with the local street monkeys. This brawl between thousands of monkeys was over one single yogurt cup, stopping traffic for ten straight minutes while they fought. Once city residents laid out some offerings at the temple, the crowd of monkeys finally dispersed. The dependence that the monkeys have on people is staggering, as animals out in the wild who depend on humans for food have a lesser chance of survival due to their incapability of finding food for themselves when a human is not present.

Although humans may report feeling trapped in their homes during times of quarantining, wild animals can finally roam free with a lesser chance of human infringement.