BBC Wildlife - UK (2020-08)

40 BBCWildlife August 2020

Live monitors are offered for sale alive

(so the consumer can see they are fresh), and

there’s even a small, live crocodile trussed

up like a turkey. When asked whether any of

these species might host pathogens that could

make them sick, local people say it’s not a

risk, despite the fact that the consumption of

forest-dwelling African animals – including

chimpanzeesandgreatapes– hasbeen

blamedforalltheoutbreaksofthedeadly

Ebolavirus.It’sworthnotingthatthereis an

ongoingEbolaepidemicintheDemocratic

RepublicoftheCongorightnowthat’skilled

morethan2,000people.

Makingtheleap

It was,ofcourse,a wildlifemarket– or,more

accurately,thewildlifesectionoftheHuanan

SeafoodWholesaleMarket—inWuhan,

inthecentralChineseprovinceofHubei,

thatwasblamedforbeingtheplacewhere

thecoronavirusthatcausesCOVID-19first

jumpedfromananimalto a human.

Infact,scientistsfromtheWuhanInstitute

ofVirology(WIV)haverecentlyannounced

theydonotnowbelievethisto bethecase,

andthatthemarketactedasa locationwhere

theviruswasspreadaroundbyperhapsjust

oneinfectedindividual.

Butonething’sforsure:SARS-CoV-2(as

thevirusis officiallyknown– thefirstone,

SARS-CoV,causedSevereAcuteRespiratory

Syndrome,orSARS,andwasunleashedon

the world in 2002) came from an animal. The

reservoir host is almost certainly a horseshoe

bat – there are a number of species in China

• but the disease probably passed through
  an intermediate host before reaching us.
  The $64 million question is which species
  and has wildlife trade and markets helped to
  facilitate this unlikely journey?
  A peer-reviewedstudyinthejournalNature
  identifiedMalayanpangolins– oneofeight
  speciesofthesestrange,scalymammals– as
  carryinga coronavirusverysimilarto theone
  causingthispandemic.Pangolinsarehighly
  prizedinmanycuisinesinSouth-EastAsia,
  andfortheirscalesinTraditionalChinese
  Medicine,andarefrequentlydescribedas
  theworld’smosttradedmammal.Snakes
  havealsobeenhighlightedasa possible
  intermediatehost,thoughtheevidencefor
  thisis lessconvincing.
  Butwhynow?WhyshouldCOVID-19
  suddenlyhavejumpedshipfrompangolins–
  orwhateverspecies– to usintheyear2020?
  Wasit justbadluck– orsomethingelse?The
  answermaylieinthewayinwhichhumans
  aredestroyingandfragmentinghabitats,
  especiallyintropicalpartsoftheworld.
  “Withincreasedaccessintopreviously
  inaccessibleplaces,poachersaredefinitely
  ableto getmoreanimalsthantheycould
  before,”saysChrisShepherd,executive
  directorofthewildlifetradeinvestigation
  groupMonitorandoneoftheworld’sleading

expertsonthelegalandillegal trade in wild

species.Theseareanimals that, for thousands

ofyears,mayhavelurkedunseen and

untroubledbythepoacher’s snare or spear.

Crossingboundaries

Butthere’ssomethingelse, too. Consumption

ofwildlife(bushmeat)is quite a luxury item,

notjustinChina,butalsoin many other

countriesthroughoutAsiaand Africa and, of

course,somewell-knownproducts are highly

prizedfortheirsupposedmedicinal qualities.

Indeed,Chrissaysthatthanks to the huge

profitsto bemade,it’snotjust habitat loss

that’sdrivingthe(mainlyillegal) wildlife

trade.“Evenwithoutroads, poachers will go

inandsometimessetupcamps that allow

themto liveintheforestfor months, setting

theirsnarelinesandhunting,” he says.

“Helmetedhornbills,pangolins, bears, tigers,

rhinos– thesearethethings that people will

goto noendto get.”

Thepoacherswillprobably have a contact,

a middleman,whowillbuy whatever they

catchoncetheyemergefrom the forest again.

Pangolinsmaybetradeddead or alive, though

Above: bushmeat

is for sale in the

markets of Lagos,

Nigeria. Right:

horseshoe bats are

thought to be the

source of SARS

and COVID-19.

Why now? Why should

COVID-19 suddenly

have jumped ship from

animals to people?

A giant flying squirrel

and green pigeons for

sale in Mong-La. Top

right: a stall in Lagos

displays a variety of

dead animals.