Corona virus: Why ban wild meat is not viable in China?

Animal protection companies say China's permanent ban on the trade of wild animals is not the perfect solution to the problem, as they are still allowed to trade for Chinese medicine, clothing and jewelry.

They also said that this exemption in sanctions was a way of avoiding legal regulations that would result in the sale of wild animal meat.

The ban was imposed in February when suspicions were raised that an outbreak of the Corona virus was outlawed by meat sold in a meat market in Wuhan, China.

There are concerns that animal meat will continue to be sold in the black market due to the ban exemption.

Confidence in traditional treatment methods

Animals such as pangolin and mammals, which protect their prey and trade, are allowed to trade, but trade restrictions will be allowed in China, so that different parts of their body can be used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Although the medical benefits of wild animal products have not been scientifically debated, people have an extraordinary belief in the treatment, says Terry Townshend, founder of Wildlife Conservation, a bird working in China.

He also said that I know of a well-educated family with two children, one with no children and the other a wildlife conservation activist.

Although he was well aware of the absence of evidence based on the science of therapeutic methods, the child, who was not born at home, used pangolin shells to obtain offspring because they were the other way around. Had tried.

Pangolin has disappeared in China and is one of the most smuggled parts of the world due to the demand for traditional methods of treatment.

Research has also revealed that pangolin has viruses that are similar to viruses that cause Cod19.

The research, published in the scientific journal Nature, confirms that this animal's association with the current global epidemic has not been confirmed.

Raising wildlife for fur

According to research data conducted by the Chinese Academy of Engineering in 2017, 75 percent of the wildlife rearing industry in China is for animal fur that has soft hair.

According to PfFu, chief executive and co-founder of ACT Asia, a campaign against the animal husbandry industry, says 5 million animals were killed in 2018 due to their skin.

Cattle breeds include raccoons, neollae and foxes and their meat is sold after receiving them.

People in China's education world agree that despite the ban, there are ways to avoid legal rules.

Dr. Jiang Jin Tsong, assistant professor at Tsinghua University in China, says that wildlife's hairy skin is three-fourths of the trade, so if it is not banned, then there is no problem with this wildlife business. Will They also say that our efforts to save wildlife will be curtailed.

A 2012 investigation by the EIA revealed that businesses that were nurturing Tiger for their skin were illegally selling their bones for drugs and alcohol.

The new restrictions include the use of products made for decoration of animal body parts.

The purchase and sale of pangolin meat is illegal, but its nails can be sold for decoration and for dermatology. In addition, tigers, bears, and python snakes are widely raised. In China, crocodiles and lizards like salamanders and many other such animals are raised in thousands.

To breed a bear's leaf for its contents

About 30,000 bears are being raised in China, say wildlife activists. They are kept in small cages, and liquid is extracted from their leaves through a metal tube, causing them severe infections and infections.

Experts say fluid is extracted from the leaf by repeatedly rubbing the tube with the same wound. As a result, bears die from infections and other medical complications.

Whereas in China, after the new ban, traditional treatment for bears is allowed to be raised for its leafy substance, wildlife activists are reporting that illegal traders are selling their meat and Other body parts are giving people food to eat.

Light-baked bear leaves are regarded as fine foods in some regions of China.

According to a study by the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the wildlife industry has found 1.1 million jobs, and according to their estimates, the total volume of the business is close to $ 70 billion.

But a recent public opinion poll reveals that a global outbreak of the Corona virus has led to urban wildlife being consumed in China.

More than 100,000 people voted in the survey, and 97 percent said they were against the use of wildlife products, and they support the government's ban on their trade.

This public opinion review by Peking University and seven different institutions does not represent the entire population of China. The review was done online and the youngsters participated in it. One Thai participant was between 19 and 30 years old.

Terry Townsend says the participants in the survey had a higher number of people from eco-friendly communities living in densely populated areas, which may be generally against the rest of the population.

What do you think of the younger generation?

Young people who spoke to the BBC agreed with the results of the review.

"We clearly support the removal of illegal wildlife products from the market," says Ji, a student at Beijing's last academic year who did not want to be named.

The 21-year-old student also said that we do not eat wildlife products in our daily lives.

He also said that some of my friends' families from different parts of the country give them sharks to eat fish, snakes or turtles because they think they have a nutrient that is very beneficial.

Ji says that when she was in secondary school, she ate frogs for her own purpose, but then when she found out that they had insect bites, I stopped eating them.

He also said that after the outbreak of the Corona virus, more young people would abandon the outdated tradition of eating wild animals.

Will the ban really work?

Authorities in China banned wildlife trade after the SARS outbreak in 2003, but relaxed a few months later. This time wildlife activists say the current measures are promising.

John Lee, a wildlife researcher at Oxford University who monitors the authorities' policy on wildlife conservation in China after the Corona virus outbreak, says authorities in China have grown to over 600 such Cases have been investigated in which wildlife-related offenses were committed and it is hoped that the focus on law enforcement will become more common.

But wildlife protection agencies say the traditional treatment of sanctions, hairy skins and decorations and their use in ornaments will promote the illegal trade of meat.

Zhou Jin Feng, secretary-general of the government-backed China Conservation and Green Development Foundation, says that ways to avoid legal regulations in sanctions are a serious problem and we are considering them. They also say that in addition to eating the flesh of wild animals, every other use of wildlife must be stopped.

After announcing the ban on wild meat, everyone's eyes are now on the law on China's wild animal protection, which is due to be amended soon.

Zhou Jin Feng also said that if the amendments to the law do not eliminate the legal rules, it would be worth losing this golden opportunity to overcome the problem.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature, a major wildlife protection organization, agrees.

Ian Marker Cabarazzi, director of the Asia Institute for Asia, says that China needs to create a framework for ensuring the application of the amended law so that the illegal trade of wild animals does not continue.