The temporary suspension of the trade and consumption of wildlife following the coronavirus emergency could become permanent. Meanwhile, the city of Shenzhen bans dog and cat meat.
Having just emerged from the coronavirus emergency, Chinese people are returning to normal life. They are venturing out of their homes, including to treat themselves to a restaurant dinner. Many things have changed, however: restaurateurs cannot welcome too many customers at once, and a one-metre safety distance must be maintained between guests. And then some establishments have to contend with the possible decision to permanently ban (following an initial suspension in January) the trade in "terrestrial wildlife of significant ecological, scientific and social value".
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The ban on the consumption of wildlife is linked to the protection of public health. Scientists suspect that the coronavirus passed to humans from animals, as some of the earliest infections were found in people who had visited a wildlife market in the city of Wuhan, where bats, snakes, civets and other wild animals were sold. It has yet to be clarified which animals are included in the banned game. "It is not yet clear whether snakes are on the list of prohibited species, so for the moment we are waiting for further notice," Huang Shixiong, the owner of a restaurant specialising in snake meat in Nanning, capital of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China, told Ansa. Halting the trade will not be easy in any case, as these animals are also used, for example, in traditional Chinese medicine.
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Meanwhile, the city of Shenzhen, a modern metropolis in south-eastern China, has gone one step further ahead of all other Chinese cities and will ban the consumption of dog and cat meat from 1 May, on the grounds that "dogs and cats have established a far closer relationship with humans than all other animals, and banning their consumption is common practice in developed countries". According to the list drawn up by the authorities, the following meats are permitted for consumption: pork, chicken, beef, rabbit, fish, shellfish, lamb, donkey, duck, goose and pigeon, while species such as snake and frog are prohibited, with fines in store for anyone caught cooking them.
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"Shenzhen is the first city in the world to take seriously the lessons learned from this pandemic and to make the changes needed to prevent another one," Teresa M. Telecky, vice president of the wildlife department at Humane Society International, said as reported by Reuters. "Shenzhen's courageous steps to stop this trade and the consumption of wild animals are a model for governments around the world to follow."
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