Having lived in SE Asia for a few years and returning to the USA late last year, I can confidently tell you that the deaths caused by slamming on the economic brakes has killed more people than COVID-19 has even with the inflated numbers left in.
While many Americans enjoyed a huge increase in EBT and Unemployment benifits, along with the stimulus money, most citizens of poor countries got little aid.
The amount of aid and the percentage of people being excluded, ensured many people have literaly starved to death. In poor countries they have fewer animals of any sort in populated areas because they were already consumed years or even decades ago.
Over 7 years of visiting then 3 years of living in the Philippines I saw no one fishing from the shore of any lake, nor river, nor ocean. The pump boats never have a big haul.
Same thing with hunting. Anything besides feral dogs and cats are hard to find. Here in the USA there are still animals that survive in large numbers because being hit by a car is less devastating on the population than hungry bellies.
Just so you all know, the more rural you are the safer you are. Worldwide. Here in the US...you know that already.
Think about it. I'm suburban and I'm pretty much okay in CA. I'm in touch with someone in rural Phillipines and he and his family are okay. Not sure where OP is reporting from.
As for the idea that "here in the USA there are still animals"..come on now. That's totally HORSESHIT. Do you live in a place where you must protect your garden from deer? Then you know otherwise. This is nonsense. Stop listening to fear mongers.
I'm glad you brought up deer, because hunting deer is a needed thing to thin them out, but also plenty of other animals are doing ok. I ride bicycle a LOT and see lots of road kill, but I also see lots of wildlife even in the Urban area where I'm living near downtown Orlando. Squirrels, possums, armadillos, raccoons, and snakes of all sorts are doing quite well. Lots of birds crapping on cars and even Gofer Turtles have made a comeback. If I go for a 50 mile bicycle ride I'll see plenty of road kill. I had one day saw 3 roadkill Gofer Turtles and refer to that as a three turtle day.
There are a lot less people eating wildlife in the US than there used to be. As a kid I knew people who would eat all the above named animals. Now we eat store bought meat and are not predatory on the small animals around us. I lived 1 year in a rural setting in Mindanao then 2 years in Dumaguete. In Mindanao they have tree rats, a lizard that I miss-spell as Toco that eats bugs like roaches and feral cats and dogs, Thats it for wildlife, Birds and even snakes are a rare sight and its the jungle, In Dumaguete In a few thousand miles of cycling I saw road kill animals a handful of times, and those were snakes and rats.