desymbol: Animals Invade Cities As People Quarantine Themselves At Home

As quarantines roll out in a number of countries, people often bury themselves in movies, social media drama or a good book. While taking a walk outside is encouraged by some governments (as long as a distance from other people is maintained), a lot of people completely forget about the outer world. Well, nature, however, does its thing nonetheless and people are noticing an unexpected outcome of the quarantine. In countries like Japan, Italy, and Thailand, people observed animals roaming the streets due to human absence.

Like in Japan, where deer that are local to Nara Park were observed taking to the streets in search of food. Usually, the park is swarming with tourists, as the Sika deer living there are a local attraction. Tourists would usually buy crackers sold at the park meant specifically to feed the deers, however as the number of visitors plummeted in recent weeks, the deer seem to have no choice but to wander out of their territory to find something to munch on.

People in Nara, Japan reported seeing deer that usually stay in the park roam out onto the streets

Image credits: okadennis

Plenty of photos and videos of the deer roaming the streets of Nara emerged, with people responding either in shock or awe. Twitter user okadennis who posted a number of shots of the deer reported finding the whole occasion amusing.

Image credits: okadennis

今朝の動画
コンビニへ寄り道の巻#奈良 #鹿 pic.twitter.com/bnqJnqCyyI

— okadennis (@okadennis) March 4, 2020

Image credits: okadennis

今朝は団体様#奈良 #鹿 pic.twitter.com/C6s2nnuurH

— okadennis (@okadennis) March 1, 2020

Image credits: okadennis

Another video shows a swarm of starving monkeys in a city plaza in Lopburi, Thailand

However, a more severe case emerged in Thailand, where monkeys in Lopburi ran into the streets, scavenging for food. Just as with the Nara deer, these monkeys heavily rely on tourists for food and since the number of visitors dropped significantly, locals observed monkey gangs breaking out into fights over whatever piece of food they could find.

One Italian Tumblr user reported seeing wild boars walking around

Image credits: taylorswifh

Naturally, the country with over 30k cases and a severe lockdown in place, Italy, also observed a similar phenomenon. Numerous accounts of various animals (like sheep, boars and a horse!) wandering the streets appeared on Italian social media. Most of the people who posted their observances were pretty amused with the situation despite the tedious circumstances surrounding it.