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The outbreak of COVID-19 has highlighted the pressing need to prevent zoonotic diseases, resulting in a surge of interest and research on wildlife legislation and policies. These discussions cover many aspects of wildlife governance, such as wildlife farming, hunting and consumption. However, the legal concept of "wildlife" has received insufficient attention, raising the question of what it entails in a legal context. This study reveals significant differences in species classification, language clarity, and human-wildlife relationships between China and the UK through conducting a comparative analysis of the legal definitions and scope of "wildlife" in these two countries. By contributing to the growing body of literature on wildlife conservation, this study provides insights into the legal definitions and scope of "wildlife" in different countries, and underscores the significance of clarifying the context and scope of legally defined "wildlife" terms in shaping public policy and discourse in wildlife governance. Additionally, it emphasises the importance of legal clarity and harmonisation in wildlife definitions for improved conservation efforts at both domestic and international levels. Finally, this study concludes by stressing the importance of the human-nature relationship in shaping wildlife definitions and classifications, and highlighting the need for conservation practitioners to be attentive to legal details related to wildlife governance in future research and practical efforts to achieve protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In early 2020, the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) led multiple countries to introduce strict lockdown measures to contain the pandemic. Movement restrictions may have influenced the ability of the public to contribute to citizen science projects. We investigated how stay-at-home orders affected data submitted by birdwatchers in Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom (UK) to a widely-used citizen science platform, iNaturalist, depending on whether observations were collected in urban or non-urban areas. We found significant trends in the daily number of observations in all three countries, indicating a surge in urban observation during lockdowns. We found an increase in the mean daily number of urban observations during the lockdown in Italy and Spain, compared to previous years. The mean daily number of non-urban observations decreased in Italy and Spain, while remained similar to previous years in the UK. We found a general decrease of new records during the lockdowns both in urban and non-urban areas in all countries. Our results suggest that the citizen science community remained active during the lockdowns and kept reporting birds from home. However, limitations to movements may have hampered the possibility of birdwatchers to explore natural areas and collect new records. Our findings suggest that future research and conservation applications of citizen science data should carefully consider the bias and gaps in data series caused by the pandemic. Furthermore, our study highlights the potential of urban areas for nature activities, such as birdwatching, and its relevance for sustainable urban planning. [Display omitted] • COVID-19-related lockdowns influenced citizen science projects. • Lockdowns increased citizen science observations from urban areas in Italy, Spain and the UK. • Non-urban observations decreased in Spain. • A decrease in new records is particularly evident in non-urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]