While the novel coronavirus outbreak forced humans across the world to stay indoors, animals including dolphins, langurs, penguins, horses, and parrots among others have been seen reclaiming the earth as they took to empty streets.

During the COVID-19 enforced lockdown in Mumbai, pictures of spotted deer roaming freely at Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) in Borivli had gone viral, leaving netizens shocked and surprised.

Now, once again pictures of spotted deers grazing and roaming freely at the city's iconic national park have taken Mumbaikars by surprise.

After the stunning pictures went viral, many said that humans and animals need to learn to co-exist. After the outbreak of the global pandemic in March 2020, the officials of Sanjay Gandhi National Park had barred visitors from entering the park in a bid to curb the spread of COVID-19.

mid-day lens man Satej Shinde snapped spotted deers grazing during at the Borivli national park amid the COVID-19 crisis in the city.

The park authorities took that decision as theatre, malls, gyms, and swimming pools were shut due to the pandemic. Park authorities felt that more people may come to visit SGNP and in order to prevent this, they decided to close it.

In photo: Spotted deer snapped during the COVID-19 enforced lockdown in March-April when the virus was at its peak.

In July 2020, a viral video of a herd of deer running around Mumbai's Mithi River won the hearts of Mumbaikars. The 29-second video clip shared by environmentalist Afroz Shah showed a herd of deer running around the Mithi River, which is located right in the heart of the city.

According to Forest Department officials, because of closure, the Sanjay Gandhi National Park will lose revenue of up to Rs 3.5 lakh on average per day.

Besides spotted deer at SGNP, there have been instances of peacocks being snapped in the city too. During the lockdown period, it was all cameras out at Khareghat Colony on Hughes Road as peacocks were strutting the quiet lanes of the iconic SoBo colony.

In photo: A spotted deer snapped in all its glory at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park amid lockdown in the city.

Chitals, which are also popularly known as spotted deer were snapped as they moved in the visitor section of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Borivli. The creature of the wild, which usually prefers moving inside the forest, were seen roaming in the empty visitor area due to the lockdown, thus leaving its comfort zone.

Since the lockdown, citizens across Mumbai said that sightings of animals have become more frequent, while others are of the opinion that residents, who are home all day, get more chances to see the birds.

In photo: A dog snapped next to a spotted deer at the Borivli national park in Mumbai.

In photo: A monkey walks pass a parked Mobile Dispensary Seva vehicle during the on-going antigen testing camp at Sanjay Gandhi National Park's BMC staff colony in Borivli.