There is growing evidence that the changes in human behaviour resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic have had positive and negative impacts on the natural world. This study used an online survey to explore how the first UK lockdown affected human exercising behaviour, with particular focus on the role of wild and domestic animals. The survey was completed by 308 respondents. There was a significant increase in the frequency that respondents went for walks outdoors during lockdown, in comparison to pre-lockdown levels (p ≤ 0.001), and this was sustained (albeit to a lesser extent) once lockdown ended (p = 0.005). Engaging with the natural world was an important feature of walks outside for 81% of respondents. A small proportion of respondents reported physically interacting with the animals they encountered and/or feeding them, which may have implications for their welfare. The findings suggest that those who value animal encounters during their time outside always seek these interactions, while those who do not, did not tend to change this behaviour following lockdown. Should the changes in human exercising behaviour be sustained, it is important to balance the benefits of walking outdoors for human health and wellbeing with the health and welfare of the animals they encounter.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 大流行如何影响我们进入乡村以及与其中的动物互动的方式？

越来越多的证据表明，由 COVID-19 大流行引起的人类行为变化对自然界产生了积极和消极的影响。这项研究使用了一项在线调查来探讨英国第一次封锁如何影响人类的锻炼行为，特别关注野生动物和家养动物的作用。该调查由 308 名受访者完成。与锁定前的水平 ( p ≤ 0.001)相比，受访者在锁定期间到户外散步的频率显着增加，并且在锁定结束后这种情况持续下去（尽管程度较轻）（p= 0.005）。81% 的受访者认为，与自然世界互动是户外散步的一个重要特征。一小部分受访者表示与他们遇到的动物进行身体互动和/或喂养它们，这可能会影响他们的福利。研究结果表明，那些重视在户外与动物接触的人总是寻求这些互动，而那些不重视的人在锁定后并没有改变这种行为。如果人类锻炼行为的变化持续下去，重要的是要在户外步行对人类健康和福祉的好处与他们遇到的动物的健康和福利之间取得平衡。