New Year’s Eve fireworks are a major and regularly recurring human-caused impact on the environment, producing light, noise, and air pollution.

The animals that feel the effects of fireworks most strongly are both wild and domestic. In the first days of the new year, thousands of people search desperately for their pets, which became frightened, lost, or ran away when the fireworks set off.

But what happens to wild animals?

Every year, new research emerges on the effects of fireworks on wildlife. A recent study found that fireworks cause significant distress to urban birds. The study was conducted by researchers at Anglia Ruskin University in the UK and published in the  Behaviour journal.

The research focused on urban birds from the corvid family (crows, jackdaws, rooks, etc.). The data showed that the birds exhibited erratic flight patterns, abandoned their usual roosting sites, and gathered in unusual locations hours before midnight.

The authors of the study say that these behaviours indicate prolonged stress and discomfort. It was shown that the noise and lights from fireworks can trigger fear responses in birds, even before the main displays begin. Birds flew in circles, frequently changed direction, and avoided their usual roosting trees — clear signs of stress and fear.

Previous research has shown that geese fly higher and further during fireworks, while songbirds lose sleep and become more active at night. Weather radar data has even recorded a thousand-fold increase in birds taking flight on New Year’s Eve compared to other nights.

In Romania, several cities have decided to abandon this tradition. Brașov City Hall announced that it will no longer hold a New Year’s Eve fireworks display. The decision aims to protect pets and wildlife from the stress and harm caused by loud explosions and to safeguard the environment from chemical pollution. Instead of fireworks, a laser show will be held in Piața Sfatului, the city’s main square.

For the same reasons, fireworks have also been cancelled by the city authorities in Târgu Mureș, Sfântu Gheorghe, Constanța, Cluj-Napoca, Iași and Ploiești.

We urge everyone who cares about nature and animal welfare, whether for pets or wild species, to celebrate the New Year in a way that does not cause suffering to these animals.