Indirect Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Wildlife Activity on an Urban Campus

The COVID-19 pandemic was an opportunity to investigate how health measures related to an urban campus changed human activity and to see if it affected the local wildlife. From 28 August to 28 October 2020, we deployed game cameras to capture terrestrial wildlife and human activity on an urban campus in the United States. We analyzed what factors influenced human and animal activity and examined changes in the 24-h activity periods of both humans and animal species. Our findings suggested a decrease in COVID-19 cases on the campus led to an increase in human activity, which then led to an increase in wildlife activity. Thus, the number of COVID-19 cases indirectly affected wildlife activity. These results provide insight into species' responses to sudden changes in human activity in an urban setting and indirect effects of societal public health measures on wildlife populations.