Conservation experts may say the coronavirus pandemic, which likely originated at a market selling wild animals in China, is a watershed moment for curbing the global wildlife trade, which can drive extinction and spread disease.
Moreover, for the past 40 years, the Chinese government has promoted the wild animal trade as a form of rural economic development. But the industry ground to a halt this winter when it came to light that the Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan likely originated in a ‘wet market’ where masses of customers shop for live animals held in cramped quarters.
However, when this connection emerged in January, the government ordered a freeze on the sale and consumption of wild animals, which was firmly enforced. About 700 people were arrested for violations in the first two weeks of February. On February 24, however, the government initiated a permanent ban with a decree titled “Comprehensively Prohibiting the Illegal Trade of Wild Animals, Eliminating the Bad Habits of Wild Animal Consumption, and Protecting the Health and Safety of the People.” We cannot forget the thousands of innocent Elephants and Rhinos killed in the past, and trophies, horns or ivory, ending up in global markets for the wrong reasons.
It is therefore, a bit bizarre and quite ridiculous that, feasting on exotic game has become a sign of status and wealth in certain countries. The desire for wildlife as food or medicine drives a trade in wild animals, some procured illegally, creating a breeding ground for disease and the chance for viruses to leap to humans.
For instance, wet markets have however, become a familiar sight in many countries in Southeast Asia, particularly mainland China. Selling live fish, chickens and wildlife, as well as fresh fruit and vegetables, they, however, get their name from the melting ice used to preserve goods, as well as to wash the floors clean of blood from butchered animals. Wet markets can be “time bombs” for epidemics, says Prof Andrew Cunningham, deputy director of science at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). “This sort of way that we treat… animals as if they’re just our commodities for us to plunder – it comes back to bite us and it’s no surprise.”
The Wildlife Conservation Society however, has created a series of infographics to educate the public about the connection between wildlife trafficking and pandemics, and leaders in the field have waged a media blitz.
In the meantime, zoonotic diseases, those that make the leap from animals to humans, from HIV and Ebola to SARs and Covid-19 appear to be on the rise. The wildlife trade is partly to blame, but any activity that puts people in close proximity to wild animals harbouring diseases, for which humans are unlikely to carry immunity, poses a risk. Wild animals must be left in Nature and not be killed to be eaten and regulations need to be globally strict or totally stopped.
The root of today’s problem, however, began in the late 1970s when China embarked on an unusual agricultural experiment of wildlife farming. The country had passed through two decades of severe economic distress, including famine and food shortages, under Mao Zedong’s communist rule. As part of sweeping rural reforms, the collective farming system was abandoned.
While the ultimate goal was to liberalise and industrialise the agricultural economy, the weakened state had little money to invest in scaling up livestock production. Instead, farmers were encouraged to collect wild animals: rats, civets, snakes, bats and others and breed them for home consumption and commercial markets. I could only term that a travesty.
The recent Covid-19 pandemic, however, is said to have spread from horseshoe bats to humans, most likely through pangolins, a scaly armadillo-like creature that are considered a delicacy in Asia. The disease has killed over 165,000 people worldwide and has provoked intense pressure to eliminate the wild animal trade, an industry with both legally-condoned and black-market elements.
On the other hand, for decades, epidemiologists have sounded the alarm: the forces of globalisation, combined with the popularity of exotic meats in countries where a growing middle class can afford these prestige-enhancing luxury foods, are a recipe for an explosion of zoonotic diseases. Of the 30-plus pathogenic diseases discovered in humans in recent decades, three-quarters are of animal origin. One study estimated that 700,000 viral pathogens in the animal kingdom have potential to infect humans. If wild animal consumption continues unabated, outbreaks like SARs and Covid-19 are likely the new norm.
After an initial cluster of cases connected to the market, the virus began spreading dramatically inside China, before reaching much of the world. The origins of the novel virus are unknown, but it most likely emerged in a bat, then made the leap to humans via another wild animal host.
In the wake of the initial outbreak in Wuhan, China introduced a ban on all farming and consumption of live wildlife, which is expected to become law later this year. Thousands of wildlife farms raising animals such as porcupines, civets and turtles have been shut down. However, loopholes remain, such as the trade in wild animals for medicine, pets and scientific research.
And as a repercussion, the Covid-19 pandemic has pushed the world into a recession. For 2020 it will be worse than the global financial crisis. The economic damage is mounting across all countries, tracking the sharp rise in new infections and containment measures put in place by governments.
The recovery in China, although limited, is encouraging, suggesting that containment measures can succeed in controlling the epidemic and pave the way for a resumption of economic activity. But there is huge uncertainty about the future path of the pandemic and a renaissance of its spread in China and other countries cannot be ruled out.
Which is why, to overcome this pandemic, we need a global, coordinated health and economic quick action plans and new policies.
Human life is priceless, we must control and stop any disease and pandemic illness globally.
The writer is a business leader and conservationist.
