Nature takes over empty streets due to COVID-19 crisis
Sea lions are seen on a street of Mar del Plata harbour during the lockdown imposed due to the new COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, in Mar del Plata, some 400 km south of Buenos Aires, Argentina on April 16, 2020.
AFP photo
Nature has taken back the world's empty streets during the coronavirus crisis.
In just four months, the virus has turned the world upside down, confining half the planet indoors and killing nearly 170,000 on its march through virtually every country.
Drastic measures never before seen in peacetime have shredded the global economy, resulting in the extraordinary spectacle of oil prices turning negative as demand evaporates.
World leaders are agonising over when to loosen restrictions, terrified of a second wave but aware their citizens need to work and live amid growing signs of social tension.
Grey langurs run along a deserted road during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus, in Ahmedabad on April 19, 2020. AFP photo
Wild boars eat the grass in a garden close to a residential buildings in Ajaccio, on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica, on April 18, 2020 on the 33rd day of a strict lockdown in France to stop the spread of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus). AFP photo
Two deers wandering around Boissy-Saint-Leger, near Paris, on the 27th day of a strict lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the novel coronavirus. Two deers were filmed by an inhabitant wandering around Boissy-Saint-Leger, on April 12, 2020.
A racoon walks over the running path in almost deserted Central Park in Manhattan on April 16, 2020 in New York City. Gone are the softball games, horse-drawn carriages and hordes of tourists. In their place, pronounced birdsong, solitary walks and renewed appreciation for Central Park's beauty during New York's coronavirus lockdown. The 843-acre (341-hectare) park -- arguably the world's most famous urban green space -- normally bustles with human activity as winter turns to spring, but this year due to Covid-19 it's the wildlife that is coming out to play. AFP photo
An African Penguin walks in the parking lot of an empty restaurant, close to popular Boulders Beach, in Simonstown on April 14, 2020, in Cape Town. This beach is closed due to the continuing lockdown across South Africa, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on April 9, 2020, prolonged by a further 14 days a three-week national lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. AFP photo
