ANIMALS OUT PLAYING : THE WORLD

WHEN humans are sheltered in place, wild animals will play.

More than a billion people worldwide are staying at home under the guidance from their governments, socially distancing themselves from one another to avoid the spread of the coronavirus.

With businesses closed and towns and cities emptied out, people are getting a glimpse of what  animals that usually keep their distance do when they are left alone.

The Orme goats live in Great Orme Country Park, in Conwy, Wales. They were a gift from Queen Victoria, from the royal herd, but their descendants are wild animals that roam and forage in the large park.

''They like to come down when it gets a bit windy,'' Mr. Stuart said. ''When they get down to the bottom of the hills they don't go much farther because there is busy town life. They are known for coming down a bit and causing a bit of mayhem.''

But with Britain under lockdown because of the coronavirus, the goats saw an opportunity to get a whiff of their neighboring town and hopped right to it. In the video Mr. Stuart recorded, the goats can be seen running down the middle of a street.

''They were just racing through the town,'' said Mr. Stuart, who called a non-emergency police line.

There is hardly anyone in San Francisco - except for the coyotes. Residents in San Francisco have been under orders to practice social distancing for two weeks, leaving their homes only to buy groceries, go to pharmacies and participate in other essential tasks.

The streets have been left to the coyotes, which seem to be venturing farther into the city because there are so few cars, according to Deb Cam [bell, a spokeswoman for San Francisco Animal Care and Control.

''We have had a lot more reported sightings of them in the streets,'' she said. ''They are probably wondering where everyone went.''

Social distancing has not increased wild animals populations, but it does seemed to have changed their behavior in seeking new food sources, said Jim Fredricks, chief entomologist at the National Pest Management Association.

''What we are also seeing is that they are looking for food in places they had not before,'' he said. ''The part of the equation that is missing right now is people.''

Ever since Louisiana imposed a lock down causing restaurants to shut down, the rats in New Orleans are almost certainly wondering where the usual French Quarter crowds - and their trash - have gone.

Animals are opportunistic and feed off trash,'' said Claudia Riegel, executive director of the  New Orleans Mosquito, Termite and Rodent Control Board.
''The restaurants are producing a lot of trash, and right now, and lot of that is just gone.''

This moment of desperation for the rodents can become an opportunity for communities trying to control the pest population, since the rats are more likely to be lured by traps and baits, Dr. Fredricks said.

Dr. Riegel and her team are taking advantage of that.

The honor and serving of the latest behavioral changes in the animals during the lockdown continues. The World Students Society thanks author, Sandra E. Garcia.