BY ASHAR KHAN – MAY 7
Coronavirus disease 2019 – This beautiful image of this miniature butterfly was taken yesterday at our residence. This tiny creature was taking off and landing on different plants in a weird way. It looked as though it had no fear and was at ease. It had been spotted after a long time.
Similarly, a bunch of robins were spotted in our garden some days back. They were sitting under a shadow of a bigger plant and their frequent chirping was making the surroundings more serene. These little birds had also been spotted after long time.
Likewise, several other animals, birds and insects have also been spotted on the streets and residences all over the globe. In the time of this great pandemic, with billions in isolation and city streets emptied, nature is pushing back indeed. As the matter of fact, these creatures are actually reclaiming them as their natural habitat and are not in any way damaging public property or causing harm to anyone.
It has been quiet evident throughout the centuries that we, the humans have pushed wildlife into smaller and smaller corners of the planet. As we embraced an aggressive, ‘development-driven’ lifestyle, we unconciously altered the natural surroundings, keeping our needs and desires as the reference points.
Corona Virus Disease 2019 reshape our world. We don’t yet know when the crisis will end. But we can be sure that by the time it does, our world will look very different.— Josep Borrel
Although, We like these species in a zoo or even as a food but we suddenly get alarmed as soon as some monkeys land on our rooftops or any blue bull get spotted around some human settlement. But with us deciding to stay at home due to the threat of coronavirus, these animals all over the world are rejoicing their newfound freedom and extra space to move around.
Now, It remains to be seen how things are going to change once the lockdown is over. We will get back to our daily routines. The roads will be flocked by thousands of vehicles, and eventually, these creatures would be forced to retreat to the wild or their sanctuaries. In fact, There is also a possibility that human-animal conflicts might increase if they get used to a human-free environment.
But if this Coronavirus disease 2019 lockdown has told us anything then that there should be the need to change the human-wildlife interaction. We need to be more compassionate ecologically or at least not interfere with the nature’s way of functioning. We might claim to be missing the nature, the nature surely isn’t missing us.
