BBC Wildlife - UK (2020-04)

April 2020 BBC Wildlife 29

WILDNEWS

THEANSWERISN’TSTRAIGHTFORWARD.

Acoronavirusisa ‘zoonotic’disease– it

canbetransmittedfromanimalsto

humans.Thelatest,Covid-19,isthesixth

varianttohavemadethisjumpfrom

speciestospecies;forexample,SARS

in 2003 probablyoriginatedinbats,

while MERS in 2012 may have come from

camels.PossiblehostsforCovid-19include

pangolins,batsandsnakes,allofwhichare

sold(liveandasmeat)inChinesemarkets,

sometimesinunsanitaryconditions.

“It’swellpasttimetoclosealllive

wildlifemarketsglobally,”saidWildAid

CEOPeterKnightsinresponse,echoing

callsfromhealthprofessionalsand

animal-rightsactivists.Knightsadded:

“It’sourhopeAsianandAfrican

governmentswillclampdown on the

illegalwildlifetrade.”

However,someacademicsand

conservationistsarguethatthe‘anti-

Chinese’overtonestomuchofthe

commentaryonCovid-19maysimplydrive

thetradeunderground.Blamingdifferent

cultures,theysay,islesseffectivethan

tacklingtheunderlyingdemandforexotic,

luxurymeatproducts.Ben Hoare

Wild animal

marketban

willput astop

to diseases

WANTTO

COMMENT?Email

wildlifeletters@

immediate.co.uk

Callsfora crackdown

havebeenmade

aertheoutbreak

ofcoronavirus,but

would it work?

Palmcivets

werealsofound

to carry SARS.

Palm civet: Paul Hilton/EPA/Shutterstock; leopard: Guy Edwardes/naturepl.com

FINDOUTMORE Coronaviruses:

who.int/health-topics/coronavirus

H

uman-inducedextinctions

arenotjusta modern

phenomenon.Afterall,we

managedtowipeoutAustralia’s

giantmarsupialsnotlongafter

wearrivedthere50,000-odd

yearsago.Butnewresearch

suggeststhatthekillingstarted

muchearlier.

Biologistshavefoundthatthe

extinctionoflargecarnivoresover

thepastthreemillionyearsor

soinEastAfricacoincidedwith

increasesinthebrainsizeofour

hominidancestors.

Theteamarguesthat,asour

ancestors’intelligenceincreased,

theyfoundnewwaystogather

food,leadingtothedemiseof

carnivorespeciesincludingbears,

sabretoothedcatsandgiant

martens, otters and civets.

It’sunlikely

thattheywould

haveactivelyhunted

thepredators– thatwouldhave

requiredweaponsthathadn’t

yetbeeninvented.Instead,

thebiologistssuggestthatour

ancestorsappliedtheiringenuityto

stealingthekillsofthecarnivores,

ultimatelydrivingthemextinctby

deprivingthemoftheirfood.

“Thismaybethereasonwhy

mostlargecarnivoresinAfrica

havedevelopedstrategies

todefendtheirprey,”

saysSørenFaurbyofthe

UniversityofGothenburg.

Perhaps,hesays,leopards

andlionsonlysurvived

becausetheylearnttodrag

theirdinnerupintoa tree

or defend it as a team.SB

EXTINCTION

Devastating intelligence

TRUTH OR FICTION

?

Noonelikes

havingtoshare

their dinner.

FINDOUTMORE

EcologyLetters:

bit.ly/38AgVRV