As humans get locked indoors, wildlife comes to visit -- but not to stay

The air is cleaner, the roads quiet, birdsong can be heard again and animals, from leopards and elephants to deer and even a civet cat, have been spotted in multiple places across urban India.

As the coronavirus pandemic forces humans into their homes and birds and animals reclaim areas that were once theirs, it is tempting to believe nature is healing itself particularly after the unprecedented pan India lockdown that came into force on March 24.

But it may not all be good news, said experts as the sightings in urban centres continued to grow with the most recent being a leopard spotted wandering through the streets of Chandigarh earlier this week.

Since the lockdown, a nilgai has been seen crossing the road near the TGIP mall in Noida, a sambar deer spotted taking a stroll in Haridwar, Gurgaon residents captured peacocks in Galleria market and there are reports of a civet cat in Kozhikode in Kerala and a tusker walking through Wayanad in the state.

Drawing a parallel with the ongoing migrant labour exodus from cities to villages, environmentalist Vandana Shiva said refugees from the forest are coming to the cities because we invaded their homes.

We robbed other species of their homes and food. Wildlife, whose home is the forest, entering urban areas is not a positive sign. Now the displaced animals, the refugees from the forest, are finding the courage to enter cities when the streets have been emptied of cars and people.

Like the workers, who migrated from villages to cities, are migrating back to villages, animals too will leave urban areas. Or they will be killed, Shiva told PTI.

Other experts agreed, saying the deserted roads and an almost negligible number of people out of their houses has made these forest animals comfortable enough to come out. However, it is not a good sign.

Famous environmentalist Sundarlal Bahuguna said the reason for this migration is the intrusion of humans into forest areas and lack of food for the animals.

In the old days, we had mixed forests, where people and animals lived in harmony. Our culture says all animals are our family. That ensured enough food for the animals. The government has kept the forest only for business. Animals are not getting enough food and they come to the roads due to hunger, the 93-year-old environmentalist said.

According to Padma Bhushan award winner Anil Prakash Joshi and Anand Arya, both wildlife experts, the areas of sightings are close to wildlife habitat which also made it easier for them to migrate.

For instance, the nilgai is a resident of the Yamuna floodplains, not too far from Noida, Arya said.

Talking about the increased possibility of human-animal conflict once the situation goes back to normalcy, Arya said the animal kingdom is far too smart to fall prey to conflicts, which may continue for a couple of weeks after the lockdown is lifted.

"The moment humans come back, the animals will go back to their forests. They are much smarter, they will know where it is safe, he added.

For better or worse, the animals have entered the world of humans, and they will go back to their food scarce abode once people come back, Joshi said.

One thing is clear forests are food scarce and human settlement is an encroachment of the wild world, Joshi added.

Most places where animals are seen in the cities are close to wild habitat.. They are entering cities both because of deserted towns and also part of their food hunt exercise, Joshi noted.

He added that humans fell trees to expand their settlement, and the urban areas near forests also interfered with the food chain.

The forest around such settlements also became poor due to constant human disturbance and the food chain in the forest was disrupted both in terms of quantity and quality. In such circumstances, it is hunger that forces them to search for food in any place even outside their poor habitat, Joshi said.

The small Indian civet cat was reported from Kozhikode, on the edge of the densely forested Western Ghats.

IFS officer Sudha Ramen also posted a video of a tusker in Wayanad, Kerala, where incidents of the man-animal conflict are frequent.

Elephants are common here and are seen frequently out of the forests. Less human presence, more peace, no conflicts, Ramen said while tweeting the video.