‘Should scare everyone’: Photos capture wildlife trapped in COVID masks around the world

Wrapped around a bird’s beak as it swam.

Nestled among the twigs and leaves of a nest.

Caught in the spikes of a hedgehog.

These are just a few of 114 images of animals facing COVID-19 masks that have become part of new research showing the effect of personal protective equipment (PPE) on wildlife around the world.

Published in Total Environmental Sciencethe Canadian-led study tracked the effect of PPE litter on animals from the start of the pandemic to December 2021.

The images, which span 23 countries, show that while much attention has been paid to donning PPE in response to COVID-19, not enough emphasis has been placed on its safe disposal, the researchers say. They say it’s time to act.

“It should scare everyone,” says lead author Justine Ammendolia. “While we are protecting ourselves against a global health emergency, very little attention is being paid to how we care for our environment.”

This study was based on one from the Netherlands in 2020 that found just under 30 cases of animals interacting with PPE, Ammendolia says.

“What our study showed is that, over the course of several years, that number was actually even more exaggerated than we thought,” said the doctoral student in environmental and resource studies at Dalhousie University in Halifax.

Ammendolia and Shoshanah Jacobs, associate professor of integrative biology at the University of Guelph, had previously published a study on pandemic litter after documenting 1,300 pieces of PPE in Toronto in 2020.

As a result of the earlier study, they weren’t surprised to see animals entangled and affected by PPE, Jacobs said.

“But I think what’s really… reassuring is how much people care,” said the study’s lead researcher.

“To stop and notice something like a photo and document it, you are indicating a significant amount of concern about that situation. That is an important message.”

Still, Ammendolia said the work, which included UK researchers, took its toll.

“As a scientist, seeing image after image of animals being killed, mutilated, is absolutely heartbreaking,” she said.

“Making sure that people use that sadness, anger, frustration and helplessness and turn it into action within their own lives and within their own communities is extremely critical.”

Among the challenges highlighted by the researchers is people’s reluctance to touch discarded PPE or dumpsters.

COVID caused people to shy away from touching surfaces, Ammendolia said. “Our waste disposal practices have not really reflected how to do things in a contactless environment.”

Steve Hrudey, professor emeritus of laboratory medicine and pathology at the University of Alberta, said discarded PPE isn’t very dangerous and doesn’t pose much risk of infection.

“The virus does not survive beyond hours or days, particularly if exposed to sunlight,” he said.

For Ammendolia, the investigation is a rallying cry.

“The problem of plastic pollution is not just in Canada, it is global,” he said. “We all have to act within our communities and put pressure on our politicians to make meaningful change.”

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