Watch: Human coronavirus lockdown creates new freedom for animals

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As humans worldwide remain under partial or total lockdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic, animals have found a new freedom in roaming the streets and playing in the wilderness.

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Al Arabiya English has rounded up videos from around the world showing animals living their best lives while humans are “locked away.”

Hundreds of sheep stroll through Turkey streets

Hundreds of sheep took advantage of the coronavirus lockdown in the Turkish city of Samsun on Sunday to stroll and graze through the deserted streets.

Video posted online showed a huge flock following a shepherd through empty city streets, some briefly stopping to graze on grass on pavements.


Dolphins come out to play off Thai island

Rangers from the Similan Islands National Park in southern Thailand filmed a rare encounter with a school of bottlenose dolphins, which scientists say are becoming bolder in the absence of tourists during the coronavirus pandemic.

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The footage, filmed on April 28 while the rangers were headed to shore from the Similan Islands, shows over 50 bottlenose dolphins swimming close to the boat in calm waters.


Kangaroo enjoys Adelaide streets during lockdown

South Australia Police released a video on social media showing a kangaroo hopping around empty streets during the lockdown in Adelaide.


Sea lions laze around commercial areas at Argentina airport

As locals lock up at home over the COVID-19 pandemic, sea lions have taken over empty streets near Argentina's seaside port Mar del Plata.

Deer roam free in locked-down London suburb

As Britain ploughs through a second week of coronavirus lockdown, one east London suburb has found cheer in visits by a herd of friendly deer.
The woodland visitors have been making occasional trips into Romford for decades, locals said, though thanks to the lockdown more residents have had a chance to enjoy them.

“My little girl thinks that Santa has sent the reindeers because we're all locked down so that he can keep an eye on everyone and make sure everyone's safe,” said Christina Ellis, who had moved into the neighborhood just as the lockdown came into effect.

While the deer sightings are not being linked by locals to the lockdown itself, there have been other unusual animal sightings across the UK, including a herd of wild mountain goats roaming around a Welsh town where the lockdown had left streets otherwise deserted.


Deer wander around Paris as restrictions empty streets

An unusual scene near Paris as two deer wander around Boissy-Saint-Leger on the 27th day of a strict lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.


Flamingos flourish amid quiet of Albania’s virus lockdown

With people home, boats docked and factories silenced under a coronavirus lockdown, Albania's pink flamingos and curly pelicans are enjoying a newfound tranquility in lagoons on the country's western coastline. North of the Bay of Vlore, some 3,000 pink flamingos have recently been spotted frolicking in the salt water, an increase from the 2,000 seen in January. Conservationists also hope the quiet will be a boon to the "near threatened" Dalmatian pelicans who are nesting nearby in a lagoon in Divjaka national park.


Paws patrol the streets of the Cypriot capital in lockdown

Some 1,700 years after the legend of Roman Empress Helena shipping cats over to Cyprus to curve the population of poisonous snakes, animal lovers are sacrificing their only daily outing from coronavirus isolation to care for Nicosia’s abundant stray cat population as restaurants remain closed.

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