Any law that protects threatened wildlife should be welcomed – but a ban alone will not prevent illegal activity.
China has rich natural resources and is seeking to play a leadership role in global conservation, but its economic goals often take priority over protecting lands and wildlife.
How can nations prevent more pandemics like COVID-19? One priority is reducing the risk of diseases’ jumping from animals to humans. And that means understanding how human actions fuel that risk.
We analysed the legal systems regulating the wildlife trade in China. Here’s what we found.
Reptiles are consistently overlooked by regulators of the trade in wildlife, but many face extinction in the wild.
Yellow fever, malaria and Ebola all spilled over from animals to humans at the edges of tropical forests. The new coronavirus is the latest zoonosis.
The COVID-19 pandemic has cast a harsh light on global commerce in wildlife. But many accounts focus on demand from Asia, ignoring the role of US and European consumers.
In the 1800s, Americans hunted many wild species near or into extinction. Then in the early 1900s, the US shifted from uncontrolled consumption of wildlife to conservation. Could Asia follow suit?
If wildlife trade is forced underground it could become an even bigger threat to public health, fuel black market prices, and accelerate exploitation and extinction of species in the wild.
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