Global InformationWildlife trade and zoonoses information
Wildlife trafficking practices have resulted in the emergence of zoonotic diseases. Exotic wildlife trafficking is a multi-billion dollar industry that involves the removal and shipment of mammals, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates, and fish all over the world.[1] Traded wild animals are used for bushmeat consumption, unconventional exotic pets, animal skin clothing accessories, home trophy decorations, privately owned zoos, and for traditional medicine practices. Dating back centuries, people from Africa,[2][3] Asia,[4][5][6][7] Latin America,[8][9] the Middle East,[10] and Europe[11] have used animal bones, horns, or organs for their believed healing effects on the human body. Wild tigers, rhinos, elephants, pangolins, and certain reptile species are acquired through legal and illegal trade operations in order to continue these historic cultural healing practices. Within the last decade nearly 975 different wild animal taxa groups have been legally and illegally exported out of Africa and imported into areas like China, Japan, Indonesia, the United States, Russia, Europe, and South America.[12]
Consuming or owning exotic animals can propose unexpected and dangerous health risks. A number of animals, wild or domesticated, carry infectious diseases and approximately 75% of wildlife diseases are vector-borne viral zoonotic diseases.[13] Zoonotic diseases are complex infections residing in animals and can be transmitted to humans. The emergence of zoonotic diseases usually occurs in three stages. Initially the disease is spread through a series of spillover events between domesticated and wildlife populations living in close quarters. Diseases then spread through series of direct contact methods, indirect contact methods, contaminated foods, or vector-borne transmissions. After one of these transmission methods occurs, the disease then rises exponentially in human populations living in close proximities.[14]
After the appearance of the COVID-19 pandemic, whose origins have been linked to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China, Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, the acting executive secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, called for a global ban on wildlife markets to prevent future pandemics.[15] Others have also called for a total ban on the global wildlife trade[16] or for already existing bans to be enforced, in order both to reduce cruelty to animals as well as to reduce health risks to humans,[17][18] or to implement other disease control intervention measures in lieu of total bans.[19][20][21]
- ^ Ashley S, Brown S, Ledford J, Martin J, Nash AE, Terry A, Tristan T, Warwick C (2014-10-02). "Morbidity and mortality of invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals at a major exotic companion animal wholesaler". Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science. 17 (4): 308–21. doi:10.1080/10888705.2014.918511. PMID 24875063. S2CID 31768738.
- ^ "Traditional-Medical Knowledge and Perception of Pangolins (Manis sps) among the Awori People, Southwestern Nigeria" (PDF). Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. 2011.
- ^ Da Nóbrega Alves, Rômulo Romeu; Da Silva Vieira, Washington Luiz; Santana, Gindomar Gomes (2008). "Reptiles used in traditional folk medicine: conservation implications" (PDF). Biodiversity and Conservation. 17 (8): 2037–2049. doi:10.1007/s10531-007-9305-0. S2CID 42500066.
- ^ Costa-Neto, Eraldo M. (2005). "Animal-based medicines: biological prospection and the sustainable use of zootherapeutic resources" (PDF). Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências. 77 (1): 33–43. doi:10.1590/S0001-37652005000100004. ISSN 0001-3765. PMID 15692677.
- ^ Jugli, Salomi; Chakravorty, Jharna; Meyer-Rochow, Victor Benno (2019-06-15). "Zootherapeutic uses of animals and their parts: an important element of the traditional knowledge of the Tangsa and Wancho of eastern Arunachal Pradesh, North-East India". Environment, Development and Sustainability. 22 (5): 4699–4734. doi:10.1007/s10668-019-00404-6. ISSN 1573-2975.
- ^ Nijman V (2010-04-01). "An overview of international wildlife trade from Southeast Asia". Biodiversity and Conservation. 19 (4): 1101–1114. doi:10.1007/s10531-009-9758-4. ISSN 1572-9710.
- ^ Zhang L, Hua N, Sun S (2008-06-01). "Wildlife trade, consumption and conservation awareness in southwest China". Biodiversity and Conservation. 17 (6): 1493–1516. doi:10.1007/s10531-008-9358-8. ISSN 1572-9710. PMC 7088108. PMID 32214694.
- ^ Alves, Rômulo RN; Alves, Humberto N. (2011-03-07). "The faunal drugstore: Animal-based remedies used in traditional medicines in Latin America". Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. 7 (1): 9. doi:10.1186/1746-4269-7-9. ISSN 1746-4269. PMC 3060860. PMID 21385357.
- ^ Souto, Wedson Medeiros Silva; Barboza, Raynner Rilke Duarte; Fernandes-Ferreira, Hugo; Júnior, Arnaldo José Correia Magalhães; Monteiro, Julio Marcelino; Abi-chacra, Érika de Araújo; Alves, Rômulo Romeu Nóbrega (2018-09-17). "Zootherapeutic uses of wildmeat and associated products in the semiarid region of Brazil: general aspects and challenges for conservation". Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. 14 (1): 60. doi:10.1186/s13002-018-0259-y. ISSN 1746-4269. PMC 6142313. PMID 30223856.
- ^ "Zootherapy: A study from the Northwestern region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan" (PDF). Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge. 2016. S2CID 54552844. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-02-20.
- ^ "A COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF ZOOTHERAPEUTIC REMEDIES FROM SELECTED AREAS IN ALBANIA, ITALY, SPAIN AND NEPAL" (PDF). Journal of Ethnobiology. 2010.
- ^ Rosen GE, Smith KF (August 2010). "Summarizing the evidence on the international trade in illegal wildlife". EcoHealth. 7 (1): 24–32. doi:10.1007/s10393-010-0317-y. PMC 7087942. PMID 20524140.
- ^ Pfeffer M, Dobler G (April 2010). "Emergence of zoonotic arboviruses by animal trade and migration". Parasites & Vectors. 3 (1): 35. doi:10.1186/1756-3305-3-35. PMC 2868497. PMID 20377873.
- ^ Tsai P, Scott KA, Gonzalez MC, Pappaioanou M, Keusch GT, et al. (National Research Council (US) Committee on Achieving Sustainable Global Capacity for Surveillance and Response to Emerging Diseases of Zoonotic Origin) (2009). Drivers of Zoonotic Diseases. National Academies Press (US).
- ^ Greenfield, Patrick (6 April 2020). "Ban wildlife markets to avert pandemics, says UN biodiversity chief". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
- ^ Beirne, Piers (May 2021). "Wildlife Trade and COVID-19: Towards a Criminology of Anthropogenic Pathogen Spillover". The British Journal of Criminology. 61 (3). Oxford University Press: 607–626. doi:10.1093/bjc/azaa084. ISSN 1464-3529. PMC 7953978. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
Wildlife trade, both legal and illegal and in all jurisdictions, must be abolished. All this must be done with due respect for differently resourced low- and middle-income countries and for the needs of those indigenes who through physical need and customary tradition engage in (non-commodified) subsistence hunting.
- ^ Bonyhady, Nick (4 April 2020). "Canberra to push China to ban wildlife meat trade". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
- ^ Ceballos, Gerardo; Ehrlich, Paul R.; Raven, Peter H. (June 1, 2020). "Vertebrates on the brink as indicators of biological annihilation and the sixth mass extinction". PNAS. 117 (24): 13596–13602. Bibcode:2020PNAS..11713596C. doi:10.1073/pnas.1922686117. PMC 7306750. PMID 32482862.
The horrific coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic that we are experiencing, of which we still do not fully understand the likely economic, political, and social global impacts, is linked to wildlife trade. It is imperative that wildlife trade for human consumption is considered a gigantic threat to both human health and wildlife conservation. Therefore, it has to be completely banned, and the ban strictly enforced, especially in China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and other countries in Asia
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