Changes in wildlife activity patterns in response to war in Ukraine

Conflict zones are inherently hazardous and inaccessible for researchers, which results in a knowledge gap about the immediate effects of armed conflicts on the environment, particularly wildlife. We used camera-trap detections to investigate the impact of armed conflict on wildlife activity patterns before, during, and after the Russian occupation of the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone (Ukraine) in 2022 and compared it to the same period in 2021. Mammal species responded to armed conflict through immediate behavioral adjustments, including reduced activity during night and on dates when armed-conflict activities intensified. Our results provide insight into wildlife’s behavioral responses to armed conflict in real time and underscore the potential of camera trapping to quantify the ecological effects of war.

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Publication Details

Journal
Science
Published
2026-06-18
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aed1493
Primary Topic
Environmental and Biological Research in Conflict Zones
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

Changes in wildlife activity patterns in response to war in Ukraine

Nuria Selva, Marco Heurich, Alona Varukha, Andreas Zedrosser et al.
Science
Environmental and Biological Research in Conflict Zones
article

Changes in wildlife activity patterns in response to war in Ukraine

Nuria Selva, Marco Heurich, Alona Varukha, Andreas Zedrosser, Richard Bischof, О.А. Борсук, Martin Gahbauer, Kateryna Korepanova, Serhii Obrizan, Svitlana Kudrenko, Denys Vyshnevskiy, Serhii Domashevskiy
article en

Abstract

Conflict zones are inherently hazardous and inaccessible for researchers, which results in a knowledge gap about the immediate effects of armed conflicts on the environment, particularly wildlife. We used camera-trap detections to investigate the impact of armed conflict on wildlife activity patterns before, during, and after the Russian occupation of the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone (Ukraine) in 2022 and compared it to the same period in 2021. Mammal species responded to armed conflict through immediate behavioral adjustments, including reduced activity during night and on dates when armed-conflict activities intensified. Our results provide insight into wildlife’s behavioral responses to armed conflict in real time and underscore the potential of camera trapping to quantify the ecological effects of war.

ScienceVol. 392(6804)
University of Freiburg (DE), Bavarian Forest National Park (DE), University of South-Eastern Norway (NO), Estación Biológica de Doñana (ES), Altaiskiy State Nature Biosphere Reserve (RU), University of Inland Norway (NO), Institute of Nature Conservation (PL), Institute of Environmental Economics and Sustainable Development of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (UA), Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NO), Fukushima University (JP), Universidad de Huelva (ES), Frankfurt Zoological Society (DE), BOKU University (AT), Polish Academy of Sciences (PL)
Reduced inequalities
Openalex Percentile: Top 3%
Environmental and Biological Research in Conflict Zones
DOISourceOpenAlex
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