BENGALURU: Imagine peacocks roaming the traffic-jammed streets of Malleswaram or Banashankari or perching on your balcony. Or a majestic tusker walking on the Karnataka-Kerala highway as if to see if the lockdown is in place! Or the Indian civet walking freely during daytime at Meppayur Town, Kozhikode, or a Nilgai outside a Noida mall.
And videos of herds of deer on the Tirumala ghat roads have gone viral on social media. Animals and birds may not know why humans are not venturing out of their homes. As the deadly coronavirus fear grips the world and people are struggling at various levels, cities are seeing empty roads as government has imposed travel ban and a lockdown. Every resource is being deployed to defeat this unkown virus. But with human beings retreating, animals are slowly perhaps reclaiming their spaces.
‘Peafowl found in B’luru’s small forest pockets’
As the coronavirus crisis and the 21-day lockdown changes the rythms of urban life, animals are exploring the cities. Nature lovers and residents are delighted that the animals are pushing the boundaries. Over the last two weeks, residents have not just heard the calls of many birds, but have even got the chance to spot them, which wasn’t possible earlier. Residents of Malleswaram, Banashankari, Rajarajeshwari Nagar and Sadashivanagar were in for a treat when they saw peacocks in their area.
“The roads of Malleswaram and Sadashivanagar, which are normally packed with traffic, are now silent. To my surprise, I saw peafowls twice since the lockdown. This spells hope for Bengaluru -- that biodiversity can be restored,” said Rupali L, a resident of Malleswaram. Savita K, a resident of Banashankari, said that while she was hanging clothes in her balcony, she was pleasantly surprised to see at least three peahens.
“Due to the lockdown, there was no one to disturb them. This is the first time I’ve seen them in Bengaluru,” she said. Noted bird watcher and photographer Manjunath Prabhakar told TNIE that there were peafowls in the small forest pockets of the city, such as the area behind the forest department office and between the IISc campus, and the Institute of Wood Science and Technology. They are also found in the green covers in and around Turahalli, Bannerghatta National Park and the forests abutting Kanakapura and Magadi Roads, along with many other birds.
It is not just Bengaluru or India, with much of the world driven indoors due to the corona fear, animals are found in spaces offlimits for them till now. You have the sika deer wandering the streets of Nara, Japan, or the penguins exploring the Chicago aquarium which is closed down due to the lockdown. In fact, worrisome corona infection numbers are being reported in Chicago.