Examining the Role of Natural Disasters on Wildlife Mental Health Outcomes, Including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Depression

Earthquakes, floods, cyclones, wildfires, and tsunamis are natural disasters that have a significant psychological impact on the populations, and the most common results are post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as well as depression. This review performs a synthesis of the evidence of the articles published in 2015-2025 to investigate the patterns of prevalence, symptom trends, and determinants of mental health after disasters. The results show the prevalence of PTSD is between 15-45, and levels of depression between 10-35, where the standard rates are mainly after earthquakes and tsunamis. There are four symptom trajectories consistently reported: resilient, recovery, chronic, and delayed onset, with about 5060 percent of the survivors experiencing a resilient pattern and 1020 percent having a chronic or delayed onset of distress. Exposure severity, injury, bereavement, home destruction, low socioeconomic status, female gender, younger age, and the presence of a pre-existing mental illness are strongly linked to risk factors that are associated with adverse outcomes. Medium- and long-term recovery is also influenced by the environmental factors, i.e., the stability of the housing and the availability of services. On the contrary, such protective factors as strong social support, effective communication on the part of the authorities, and access to mental health services in a good, timely manner reduce the negative impact of psychological distress and enhance resilience. In wildlife populations, similar distress patterns are observed, with PTSD and depression documented in species affected by habitat destruction, food scarcity, and human-wildlife conflict. These psychological impacts may influence animal behavior, reproduction, and survival. Addressing the mental health of wildlife in post-disaster recovery plans is critical to maintaining ecological stability and biodiversity. The implications of the findings are the necessity to consider mental health in the framework of disaster preparedness, response, and recovery by providing scalable and culturally relevant interventions and enhanced support.

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