Beijing To Ban Hunting And Consumption Of Wildlife

It goes without saying that our wildlife is a job for us humans to protect and maintain. And if we can’t do that, we should stand back and not cause harm. Unfortunately, this is not the case in most countries. All over the world, us humans slaughter innocent animals for their fur and skin, tusks, horns and other body parts for so called high fashion or some bogus cure-all medicine.

While all this is horrifying, it is safe to say that some countries are moving in the right direction. Beijing has taken the right path and has opted to ban hunting and consumption of wildlife. In fact, ever since the Covid-19 outbreak, they even accelerated the movement two months earlier than scheduled. It was believed that the source of the outbreak came from the consumption of wildlife.

Plus, trading of wildlife is also to be prohibited as the Chairman of the Rural Affairs Commission under the Beijing congress said “Especially since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, the trading and consumption of wild animals has attracted public attention and is a great safety concern for public health, research in public health showed that over 70% of emerging infectious diseases originate from animals”

On the other hand, since the ban is meant for hunting and consumption, people are still free to farm wildlife for their fur or for traditional medicines. According to associate professor Amanda Whitfort, a specialist is animal welfare law at the University of Hong Kong said all uses should be outlawed to reduce risk. “Animals that are bred for any purpose are a risk for zoonotic disease,” she said.