DON’T EAT THAT

UN Biodiversity Chief Urges Global Ban of Wildlife Markets to Stop Future Pandemics

The top biodiversity expert says the closure of wet markets like the one in Wuhan could prevent future outbreaks.

The United Nations biodiversity chief has called for the global ban of “wet markets,” which sell live and dead animals for human consumption—like the one in Wuhan, China, where it’s believed the novel coronavirus first jumped species to humans. Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, the acting executive secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, said such a ban could help prevent future pandemics. China has issued a temporary ban on the sale of live civets, live wolf pups, and pangolins that are then slaughtered for food. “The message we are getting is if we don’t take care of nature, it will take care of us,” Mrema told The Guardian, noting that some impoverished communities around the world rely on such markets for survival. “So unless we get alternatives for these communities, there might be a danger of opening up illegal trade in wild animals which currently is already leading us to the brink of extinction for some species.”