On Wednesday, May 20 the city of Wuhan announced a comprehensive ban on wild animal consumption. The announcement also included a total ban on wildlife trade, and provisions against the hunting of wild animals.
The regulations come after global attention was drawn to Wuhan’s Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market as a potential origin point of the Covid-19 virus. Wuhan’s ban is just one of several measures across China to curb wildlife trade, including a temporary post-outbreak ban nationwide, and legislation against eating dogs.
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On social media platform Weibo, Chinese netizens were overwhelmingly positive about the news.
“I hope it will be banned throughout the country, and that people and animals will live in harmony,” reads one top-rated comment.
“It’s disgusting to look at,” writes one user, underneath illustrations of wildlife accompanying the news, “but to eat it, sick.”
Diseases such SARS, Ebola, and even HIV originated in animals, but the true origin of the Covid-19 pandemic is still under investigation. The virus originated in or spreads through bats, but the circumstances surrounding the first case of human transmission are still unclear.
