The noise from planes and traffic has ground to a halt, bringing the tourism industry to a standstill as the effects of government-imposed lockdowns take place around the world.
While the silence has resulted in some early positives, such as reduction in pollution levels, a quiet crisis is taking place behind the scenes which could wipe out decades of conservation work.
It is now feared thousands of animals may be sold off to zoos, illegal loggers or forced on to the streets to die of neglect as sanctuaries have lost their major source of funding from tourists.
More worryingly, it could also see the return of poachers invited into lodges, camps and national parks by laid-off workers trying to make ends meet.
“The tragic truth is that wildlife is an asset, dead or alive,” an owner of a lodge in Kruger National Park, South Africa, admitted.
“We are in a remote location that’s hard to police, and no one knows better than my 34 workers where to find the rhino horn and the ivory.”
He told how in “normal conditions” the knowledge that brings in tourists and pays their wages “makes them fiercely protective, but with families to feed and no work” the temptation to make fast cash in these hard times would be too strong for some to resist.
In Thailand, conservationists are also warning that more than 1,000 elephants face starvation or a return to forest labour in dire conditions.
Their plight illustrates the challenges faced by wildlife centres across a region that is heavily dependent on tourist income – from orangutan sanctuaries in Borneo to rehabilitation centres for bears in Laos and Vietnam.
Most cannot be returned to the wild because they were rescued from private owners or the illegal wildlife trade and they would not survive.
Wildlife tour operators are now urging tourists who have booked trips firstly not to cancel but to postpone them until next year to ensure funds continue to get to the front line.
Secondly, for those considering future trips to put down deposits now as a lifeline for cash-strapped camps to stop employees seeking alternative sources of income that will have a disastrous impact on wildlife conservation.
