GPS Trackers Show Animals Moved Closer to Cities During COVID-19

  • <<
  • >>

602250.jpg

In large parts of the world mammals moved closer to both roads and cities when we humans stayed indoors during the pandemic. Credit: Jim Peaco/Flickr

Key points:

  • Animals traveled longer distances in areas where human activity decreased during the COVID-19 lockdown.
  • In countries with soft lockdowns, people spent more time outdoors and hindered animals’ ability to roam.
  • Humans can thoughtfully plan their activities in nature to lessen their impact on animals.

The global COVID-19 lockdown gave researchers across the world a unique opportunity—never before had modern science been able to almost completely remove humans from the equation when studying large mammals.

A new study in Science used GPS trackers on 43 animal species during the 2020 lockdowns to find that—were humans were sitting at home watching Netflix—wild animals emerged from the bushes and edges of the forest. They ventured closer to the roads and cities that had suddenly emptied.

“The data shows that the presence of cars and humans stresses the animals and limits their movements to small empty areas,” said Peter Sunde, professor at Aarhus University, who contributed to the project by collecting GPS data from four stags from Oustrup Hede in Denmark. He found that humans hindered stags’ ability to move around.

The study used several methods to analyze tracking data. One parameter called the 95th percentile covered the 5% longest journeys taken by animals. Researchers also examined how much animals moved on an hourly basis and over a 10-day period.

On average, across species and countries, hour-to-hour movement was 12 percent lower in the spring of 2020 compared with the same period the year before, meaning that animals made fewer or shorter “long journeys.” However, looking across days showed that animals traveled greater distances than normal in areas with hard lockdowns.

“During the lockdowns, we saw that animals roamed closer to roads and cities. This gave them a bigger area to move around in,” said Sunde. “However, this only applied to areas that were already heavily impacted by humans. The lockdowns had the opposite effect on areas with low human activity because natural areas were visited by more people than usual.”

With the end of lockdowns, human activity returned to normal. Animals had to adapt again, but the study results demonstrate how humans can change their own behavior to lessen their impact.

“We can use this new knowledge to become better at planning our activities in nature,” said Sunde. “We now know that our mere presence dampens the activity of species. We should bear this in mind when planning new constructions, roads, or even small forest paths.”

 

Subscribe to our e-Newsletters
Stay up to date with the latest news, articles, and products for the lab. Plus, get special offers from Laboratory Equipment – all delivered right to your inbox! Sign up now!