March 25, 2020
IFAW Reports on Fighting Global Wildlife Trafficking and on China's Efforts to Stop Illegal Wildlife Trade
Scientists found COVID-19 in environmental samples collected at a live animal market in Wuhan, China, where various species of animals including protected wildlife were illegally sold.
As a response, the government of China has launched an unprecedented effort to monitor and stop illegal wildlife trade. Most recently, China’s top legislative committee voted to ban the buying, selling, transporting, and eating of wildlife.
What is IFAW doing to help mitigate future outbreaks? We are fighting global wildlife trafficking every step of the way, on every level.
We will continue to support wildlife law enforcement officials and work directly with private sectors to remove live animals and wildlife products for sale online. Through public awareness campaigns like our billboard at the Beijing International Airport, we are changing local and global perceptions.
For fast facts and more answers to your questions, read our full Q&A briefing here. As the global situation progresses, we will continue to keep you informed and share ways that we can all make a difference to build a brighter future for animals and people.
We are taking the same approach we use to fight global wildlife crime along every link in the trade chain. Breaking the petri-dish that grows epidemics needs strong laws, global coordination, vigorous enforcement, and consumer behavior change to reduce demand for wildlife parts and products.
The SARS epidemic, also caused by a coronavirus, began in China with the consumption of a catlike animal called the palm civet. The MERS epidemic began with a coronavirus transmitted to humans from camels in the Middle East.
In the spread of yet another coronavirus, conservationists see a public health lesson: If you want to prevent epidemics that begin in animals, halt the global trade in wildlife.
