{"id":2633,"date":"2023-01-30T09:44:13","date_gmt":"2023-01-30T09:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/?p=2633"},"modified":"2023-01-30T09:44:13","modified_gmt":"2023-01-30T09:44:13","slug":"the-desire-to-eat-exotic-wildlife","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/?p=2633","title":{"rendered":"The Desire To Eat Exotic Wildlife"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Desire To Eat\u00a0 Exotic Wildlife<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Beijing-backed expansion of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM<\/strong>) in many African countries risks fueling the illegal wildlife trade and threatens the future of some of the world\u2019s most endangered species, a new report has warned. The growth of the TCM<\/strong> market, coupled with the perception of Africa as a potential source of TCM<\/strong> ingredients, is a \u2018prescription for disaster for some endangered animal species, such as leopards, pangolins and rhinos,\u2019 the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA<\/strong>), which investigates wildlife and environmental crime, said in the report published on Wednesday. China has been promoting traditional medicine, which dates back more than 2,500 years, alongside its flagship Belt and Road Initiative<\/strong>, which is developing road, rail and other major infrastructure projects across Africa. While most treatments are plant-based, demand from the industry has been blamed for pushing animals, including pangolins and rhinos, to the brink of extinction. \u2018Ultimately, the unfettered growth of TCM<\/strong> poses a serious threat to the biodiversity found in many African countries, all in the name of short-term profit,\u2019 EIA Wildlife Campaigner Ceres Kam<\/strong> said in a statement. \u2018Any utilisation of threatened species in TCM<\/strong> could potentially stimulate further demand, incentivise wildlife crime and ultimately lead to overexploitation.\u2019 The report, Lethal Remedy: How the promotion of some traditional Chinese medicine in Africa poses a major threat to endangered wildlife<\/u><\/strong>, said TCM<\/strong> products had never been more accessible in Africa, with TCM<\/strong> companies and clinics established in countries across the continent and Beijing stepping up promotional activities in line with the COVID-19<\/strong> pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While China has sought to crack down on rare species in traditional medicine, there are still some who prescribe such remedies as aphrodisiacs or to treat illnesses from cancer to skin conditions. The status of a ban on the use of rhino horn and tiger parts imposed in 1993 and suddenly lifted in 2018 before the government made an apparent u-turn, remains uncertain. \u2018We understand that traditional medicine is integral to many cultures and plays an important role in healthcare in Africa and beyond,\u2019 Kam said. \u2018Our very real concern is that such a huge expansion of TCM <\/strong>in Africa, as is happening under China\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative<\/strong>, will have the knock-on effect of drastically increasing demand for treatments containing wildlife and, in turn, cause more species to become threatened or extinct.\u2019 With the COVID-19<\/strong> pandemic continuing, healthcare, including strengthening the ties between TCM<\/strong> and traditional African medicine, is likely to be a key issue at the forthcoming Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC<\/strong>), which is due to start in Senegal later [in November]. The EIA<\/strong> noted that South Africa, Cameroon, Tanzania and Togo were among African countries that had already signed agreements with China to develop TCM<\/strong> while South Africa and Namibia had recognized TCM<\/strong> as of their public health systems [sic]. China replaced the United States as Africa\u2019s largest trading partner in 2009, and total trade topping $200 billion in 2020, according to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies<\/strong>.\u201d (Al Jazeera<\/u><\/strong>, November 10, 2021)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAccording to the World Health Organization <\/strong>(WHO<\/strong>), nearly three-quarters of emerging infectious diseases that spread to humans originate in animals. The SARS<\/strong> virus, for example, which killed 800 people between 2002 and 2004, is thought to have started in bats before spreading to civet cats at a wildlife market in the Chinese city of Foshan. In April, after its investigative team in China concluded a seafood market in Wuhan was the most likely route by which COVID-19<\/strong> first jumped to humans, WHO<\/strong> took the unprecedented move of urging countries to pause the sale of captured wild mammals at wet markets as an emergency measure. Animal welfare groups in Asia have been making the same demands for years, saying the unsanitary and cruel conditions in which wild and domestic animals are kept at wet markets are the perfect breeding ground for zoonotic diseases. Several Asian countries have passed new laws to curb the sale of \u2018bush meat\u2019 and limit activity at wet markets during the pandemic. But nearly all attempts to stamp out the trade have been hamstrung by the continuing popularity of bush meat among some people in Asia, the sector\u2019s vast economic value and a lack of enforcement. Stopping the trade \u2018will be a challenging exercise,\u2019 said Li Shuo<\/strong>, global policy adviser for Greenpeace<\/strong> in China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last July, a presidential decree was issued in Vietnam suspending all wildlife imports and introducing much stiffer penalties for violators, including up to 15 years in prison. But a survey last month by PanNature<\/strong>, an NGO<\/strong>, found no positive changes in the trade of wildlife products had occurred at the local level in Vietnam. Wet markets in the Mekong Delta and other parts of the country were found to still be selling turtles, birds and endangered wildlife species. In Indonesia, the site of Asia\u2019s worst COVID-19<\/strong> outbreak with more than 2.5 million cases and at least 67,000 deaths, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry<\/strong> has been trying to convince local officials to close wildlife markets around the country since the start of the pandemic. Officials in the city of Solo in Central Java were among those who took note, ordering the culling of hundreds of bats at Depok, one of the country\u2019s largest bird, dog and wildlife markets. But the victory proved short lived. \u2018They brutally exterminated hundreds of bats when COVID-19<\/strong> first hit and stopped selling them,\u2019 said Lola Webber<\/strong>, coalition coordinator at the Dog Meat-Free Indonesia Coalition<\/strong>. \u2018But from what I\u2019ve heard from my sources, it\u2019s now business as usual.\u2019 Marison Guciano<\/strong>, founder of Flight<\/strong>, an NGO <\/strong>protecting Indonesian birdlife, confirms Webber\u2019s claim. \u2018I was there one week ago and they are still openly selling bats as well as snakes, rabbits, turtles, ferrets, beavers, cats, dogs, hamsters, hedgehogs, parrots, owls, crows and eagles.\u2019 The same scenario is playing out at wet markets across Indonesia. To mark World Zoonoses Day<\/strong> last week, animal welfare group Four Paws<\/strong> released photos taken in June showing hundreds of bats, rats, dogs, snakes, birds and other animals for sale at three different markets in Northern Sulawesi Province 2,000km (1,243 miles) northeast of Solo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April and May of last year, a few months after the pandemic began, global animal rights group PETA <\/strong>began visiting wet markets known to sell wildlife in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, the Philippines, Indonesia and China. \u2018We expected new rules and regulations to have been put in place but we saw it was business as usual, with all different species in filthy cages, some alive, some dead, sometimes in the same cages,<\/strong>\u2019 says PETA\u2019<\/strong>s Asia spokesman Nirali Shah<\/strong>. \u2018These environments are extremely frightening and stressful for the animals, which weakens their immune system and makes them more vulnerable to diseases that can jump across species and then to humans. At some markets, we saw animals taken from cages, killed on countertops streaked with blood from other species and workers not wearing gloves, no hygiene at all. [Isn’t diversity great?]This combination of risky factors is like a ticking time bomb waiting for a new pandemic to begin,\u2019 she says. In China, where a total ban on the trade and consumption of wildlife was issued in February last year as the coronavirus surged in Wuhan, the situation has improved but only marginally, according to Shah. \u2018You can no longer see exotic wildlife for sale openly at wet markets in China. But they still sell all kinds of birds in unsanitary conditions. And in a lot of those markets we found that if you want a certain animal, no matter what it is, vendors can get it for you despite the ban.\u2019 This is not the first time China has attempted to end the bushmeat trade. In 2002, wildlife markets were closed because of SARS<\/strong> but reopened later because of economic pressure. In 2016, the Chinese Academy of Engineers <\/strong>valued the country\u2019s wildlife industry at $76-billion, with bush meat accounting for $19-billion of business activity each year and employing 6.3 million people in China. In Malaysia, captured wildlife and bushmeat was sometimes sold at wet markets before the pandemic. But it was more commonly available through direct sales and restaurants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0In August of last year, now-retired Inspector General of Police<\/strong> Abdul Hamid Bador<\/strong> gave district police chiefs one month to ensure their areas were free of illegal restaurants selling bushmeat. The wildlife department was instructed to assist police. \u2018Don\u2019t tell me with 300 to 500 personnel in an area, the existence of restaurants and illegal premises selling exotic animals can\u2019t be detected?\u2019 Abdul Hamid said at the time. A series of high-profile wild meat seizures followed at markets, restaurants and private homes. Elizabeth John<\/strong>, the Kuala Lumpur-based spokesperson for TRAFFIC<\/strong>, an NGO fighting the illegal trade in wildlife, says raids are a signal of both success and failure. \u2018In forming this joint task force between police and the wildlife officials, it\u2019s definitely a move in the right direction,\u2019 she said. \u2018But the fact that we have seen seizures continue even during the pandemic shows that warnings have not changed attitudes among consumers. Despite the risks it poses, the desire to eat wildlife is still out there.\u2019\u201d (Al Jazeera<\/u><\/strong>, July 13, 2021) So, is it a \u201cdesire to eat wildlife\u201d or \u201cancient Chinese medicine?\u201d [Canadian Immigration Hotline, January\/February, 2023]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Desire To Eat\u00a0 Exotic Wildlife \u201cThe Beijing-backed expansion of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in many African countries risks fueling the illegal wildlife trade and threatens the future of some of the world\u2019s most endangered species, a new report has warned. The growth of the TCM market, coupled with the perception of Africa as a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1882,1336,1884,1883,1885,1881,1369,1390],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2633"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2633"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2635,"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2633\/revisions\/2635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}