To think that China needs to sort out it's wildlife trade?

[malificent7]

I was reading that corona virus eminates from bats and now there is suspicion that it was transmitted to pangolin's which are a delicacy in China hence leading to the pandemic.
Aside the fact that pangolins are beautiful creatures in danger of extinction, we are now reaping the consequences of eating wild meat.
I understand that it is illegal to hunt pangolins...so why on earth is it still happening in a country thay seems wildly capable of stamping out other kinds of disobedience?

...and stop fishing shark for their fins too.

At the risk of spreading unsubstantiated bullshit I have seen mutterings that animals used in scientific tests have been sold on illegally for food in China...

I don’t think their government really gives a shit where their populace’s food comes from. I also think it’s fair to remember that the UK isn’t squeaky clean either - a british person still couldn’t donate blood in another country due to CJD (mad cow disease for the youngun’s who might not be aware) and there was a ban on our beef products for a very long time.

Yes. I was wondering this myself. It does seem to be a bit of (awful) karma for them.
With such a controlling leadership it's clear they are complicit in the wildlife trade.

Are you British? Do you have any similar thoughts on the deregulation of parts of the agricultural industry relating to preparing food to feed to animals and how this led to CJD?

Well im veggie/ vegan so i have given it some thought yes.

I mean they're also the biggest market for ivory and rhino horn, emit some of the largest amounts of carbon emissions... China refuses to recognise the West and our concerns. They are a law unto their own and I don't see it changing

I have to say, I knew there were live food markets in China, but up until recently I didn't realise the full extent of the cruelty the animals suffered, and the conditions they are kept in (this isn't just specific to China, I know) I watched a video of a dog farm recently (obviously the worst ones are surfacing because of what's going on at the moment) and it was really awful, infact traumatising actually.
I think now that it's out there in the media and people are taking notice, there may be a crack down on the hunting of pangolin's, but I could be wrong.
China seem to have so many endangered species.

if we attempt to ban, what then? what about the poor Chinese? how will they live? how will they earn a living?

Oh dear god.

Ebola lives in fruit bats which are a delicacy in Africa.

How about we all stop being so racist and accept that different cultures eat different things.

And they still eat cats and dogs..

I'm a passionate animal lover, so on one level agree with you...Chinese people on the whole show a staggering insensitivity to the suffering of animals and this is something I would like to see change.

BUT...it is important to remember how very rural and isolated a lot of mainland China is. There are often famines and food shortages, duruing which people eat anything they can find to avoid starvation.

The practice of consuming wild animals for food is often borne of necessity in a way that we in the industrialised West find difficult to comprehend - it is not something that forms part of our culture or history.

@Surfer25
How is it racist?

You do realise multiple viruses have come from China right?

It's not a case of different countries eating different things, that's not the problem.

Pangolins are an African animal, endangered and very expensive to buy. Hardly food for the poor and starving in China.

@RogueV

I tend to agree, this has reached a point where a conversation needs to happen; shutting down legitimate debate with cries of racism is unhelpful.

Why is it any more cruel than the widespread battery farming of cattle, sheep, pigs, and hens? Why is a cow fine to kill and eat, but not a "wild" animal?

Its horrific and yes, it will continue to bite them on the arse in terms of infection.

The problem is partly cultural (Chinese people seem to prefer "warm meat" ) and partly political, as the Communist Party has encouraged wildlife farming to generate income in rural areas. There are few, if any checks on the trade and even illegal stuff gets moved around quite freely.

Having seen 2,000 dead people and 2% wiped off GDP this year may act a wake up call.

It's definately not racist. It's a fact. They hunt pangolins. How is that racist. Disclaimer...im talking about a few Chinese people eating pangolins not ALL chinese.
I am talking about the government ...not the race.
Last time i checked there were multiple food sources that didn't emminate from pangolins.

I'm actually more referring to bats, where the current Coronavirus, SARS, and MERS originated.

The intermediary host species has not been identified yet. Possibly it was a pangolin, but it could have been any of the animals on sale in the wuhan market.

Oh the ‘racist’ thing. Fruit bats are endangered animals and can have rabies and other illnesses.. China’s treatment of animals is barbaric and if this leads to the stopping the trade in wildlife that will be excellent. Many animals in the wild are endangered due to their eating habits. Farmed animals are treated horrendously and fed vast amounts of antibiotics, which is why the humans are so susceptible to viruses. And that’s before we mention the air and water pollution

Let’s face it their humans right records on the treatment of their human population is not great either.

I'm also not talking about animal cruelty as much as the cruelty of introducing viruses from wildlife to the human population. Plus domesticated animals are not endangered, they are vaccinated and hopefully regulations are in place.

Yes I agree, the same thing happened with SARS virus

After CJD we stopped cannibalising livestock. Chinese continue to do the same thing.

Bush meat (wild meat) is not a food of the poor in China, it's a delicacy sought for it's rare and exotic flavours. Together with traditional Chinese medicine calling for bear glands and leopard claws and rhino horn etc there's a huge illegal trade in rare and endangered species flies into and through China. And yes it should be challenged

@Bezalelle, I don't claim the UK is a paragon of virtue in these matters, but a cow has been domesticated and bred alongside humans for centuries - we are familiar with the viral strains (cowpox, anyone?) and there are welfare and food safety rules in place around them.

By comparison, China appears to be a free-for-all, where a couple of cages and a pregnant animal is enough to get you going, with no regard for anything else. If it's purely about food sources, pigs and chickens are a lot easier and more efficient to keep than the average pangolin or bear.

Appalling acceptance of truly horrendous cruelty to animals in some cultures.