During the worldwide shutdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many reports emerged of urban wildlife sightings. Sea lions were seen on a sidewalk of Mar del Plata harbor, south of Buenos Aires, a herd of buffalo was seen walking along an empty highway in New Delhi, a cougar was spotted in Santiago jumping onto a wall and finding shelter in an empty apartment and dolphins starting coming more frequently up the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul. The increase of similar sightings all around the world indicated that in the absence of “human” life, “wild” life reemerges.

Although we are still trying to understand what exactly happened in each context, what is clear is that the relationship between humans and wildlife in urban settings changed during the shutdown, and outlining the reasons for that change could most definitely inform urban ecology and conservation.

To help me understand this further I have with me Pushkar Runwal and Jiyun Lee. Together we will discuss the relationship between wildlife and cities in different places around the world and investigate how simple urban strategies can address long-standing questions in urban ecology, inspire the conservation of wildlife, and inform the design of sustainable cities.