Together and apart, animals in a human world.
When the humans are away, the wolves, moose and bobcats will play. This much became clear during the Covid pandemic when lockdown measures across the world ensured Homo sapiens-free landscapes for other species to saunter through. Not only was the air cleaner and every outdoor space quieter, wild boars reportedly strolled through the boulevards of Barcelona in Spain. Nature, as the popular pandemic-era meme went, was healing.
A new study published in Science has now demonstrated just how much nature — or rather, wildlife — shapes itself around the presence (or absence) of humans. Using GPS tracking data from 37 species of wild birds and mammals along with cellphone location data across the US, a group of researchers has found that how these species use geographic spaces often depends on human activity in those same areas. The findings show a remarkable diversity of responses. For example, the areas covered by coyotes and wild turkeys shrank in response to human proximity while among grey wolves, the presence of people had the opposite effect of expanding their ranges — in all likelihood to put a greater distance between themselves and humans.
For ecologists, findings like this are invaluable, helping craft a more granular approach to complex questions of conservation and minimising animal-human conflicts. They’re a warning too, against the simplistic “we are the virus” takes — suggesting that eliminating humans will save the planet — that also, not coincidentally, surged in popularity during the pandemic. Healing nature and protecting biodiversity is long-haul work built on the painstaking accumulation of knowledge — not glib formulations.
when the cat's away the mice will play (phrase) – means that people will naturally take advantage of an authority figure's absence to misbehave, break rules, or do exactly as they please.