Activism

November 24, 2020 - The Independent (UK)

Stop the Illegal Wildlife Trade: Dr Jane Goodall on why wildlife trafficking must end

There’s absolutely no doubt that wildlife trafficking plays an incredibly important role in the creation of new zoonotic diseases.

We destroy habitats, forcing some animals into closer contact with humans. We hunt them, capture them, and traffic them – or their body parts – around the world, to sell in wildlife markets in Asia, Africa and South America.

We sell them for food, for medicine, and for the growing trade of wild animals as pets. In all of these conditions, which are usually cruel and unhygienic, we create the perfect environment for a pathogen, such as a virus or bacteria, to spill over from an animal to a human, where it may create a new disease.

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The Independent (UK)