With locked-down cities worldwide, deer, peacocks, ducks and many other creatures have made their way into urban settings which they might normally avoid. Deserted cities across the globe have invited animals to explore their desolate streets, where the bustling normality of urban life has been forgotten over the past few months.
Sika deer are not an uncommon sight in the woodlands of Eastern Asia or in Nara Park, Japan where they have grown accustomed to tourists lining up to feed them rice crackers, however reported sightings of herds of these furrowed-browed, Bambi-like creatures in the city streets and subway stations of Nara are far from expected. Now with no visitors, the deer have started to wander into the city searching for food.
A deer walks on a pedestrian crossing in Japan
On a similar hunt for food, wild boars were seen foraging in the city of Haifa in Israel. This issue became so serious that local officials held a Zoom meeting to discuss the expanding population of boars in the area! Coyotes, normally apprehensive of traffic, were spotted on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and grazing deer near houses in Washington DC, only a few miles from the White House, attracted many confused passersby. In Wales, peacocks were seen strutting through Bangor and mountain goats climbing down from the cliffs of Great Orme explored the Welsh town of Llandudno.
Mountain goats in Llandudno
Cougars have been found lurking in the streets of Santiago, Chile and one of these big cats was even found inside an apartment complex! South of Buenos Aires in Mar del Plata harbour, a sea lion was seen on a sidewalk and another unusual sight were the cows that rested on Mare e Sole beach near Porticcio in Corsica.
During the first lockdown, a seabird swam across the clearest waters of Venice in years and Place Colette in Paris held a parade of mallard ducks, while donkeys gathered at an ATM booth in India. In New Delhi, a herd of buffalo walked along an empty highway and a lonesome cow was seen walking along an empty road in Bhaktapur, Nepal. There have also been amazing reports of people in India being able to see the Himalayas for the first time in their lives due to increased air quality.
Ducks waddle through the streets of Paris
Buffalo on the highway in India
Cow walks on empty road in Nepal
My family and I even spotted a horse trotting through the quiet streets of Portugal, early in the morning during the summer holidays!