China Permanently Bans The Eating Of Wild Animals

• Thomas Nelson
• March 24, 2020
• Animals, News, Politics
• 0 Comments

On Monday, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, which is China’s top governing body, approved a ban on consumption as well as illegal trade of wild animals.

Some experts believe that COVID-19, the novel coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe, originated in wild animals that came into contact with humans at a market that sold wild animals of consumption, though the exact origin of the virus is still being debated.

According to Chinese State Media, the Committee approved the ban in order to “safeguard public health and ecological security.”

The passage of this decision “completely ban[s] the eating of wild animals” while also “cracking down on illegal trade of wildlife, Chinese state media reported.

Related post: China encourages injecting bear bile to cure COVID-19

On January 26th, 2020, China temporarily suspended the sale and consumption of wild animals. Their hope was that in doing so, they would help slow the spread of COVID-19.

Chinese authorities believe the virus may have been spread to humans from civets, pigs, or pangolins, the latter of which are considered critically endangered by the IUCN and are protected under China’s Wildlife Protection Law. The China wildlife eating ban could be a step toward preventing future pandemics of this nature.

“There has been a growing concern among people over the consumption of wild animals and the hidden dangers it brings to public health security since the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak,” China’s Legislative Affairs Commission spokesman Zhang Tiewei said in an interview with Reuters.

Animal testing on wild animals will still be permitted, but researchers will go through a stricter government approval process than previously required.

While many environmental activists are applauding China’s decision, it isn’t the first time they’ve made such an effort. In 2003, China attempted to contain the sale of civets after it was discovered that they were the source of the SARS virus. But 17 years later, civets are still eaten in China.

Wild animal markets in China also sell snakes, deer, raccoons, dogs, and porcupines. These markets aren’t isolated to Wuhan, where COVID-19 first began spreading. They can be found all over China. This is a huge cause for concern.

“These animals have their own viruses,” Hong Kong University virologist professor Leo Poon said in an interview with CNN. “These viruses can jump from one species to another species, then that species may become an amplifier, which increases the amount of virus in the wet market substantially.”

As of this writing, there are more than 400,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide and 18,615 fatalities.

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