The #HuananSeafoodMarket, which offers an apalling variety of live and freshly slaughtered animals, is suspected to be the pandemic’s Ground Zero. According to genetic analyses, bats are the original hosts of the virus, but animals from the wildlife market may have transmitted them to humans.

In addition to seafood, the meat of 30 terrestrial animal species is available there, including #pangolins, #civets, #squirrels, #pheasants, #scorpions, #snakes and a variety of #rats.

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Such markets not only play a role in the spread of #disease: by selling poached, endangered animals such as #pangolins, they are pushing species toward #extinction.

Illegal #hunting and the #WildlifeTrade, like #ClimateChange and #HabitatDestruction, are among the causes of the dramatic global #extinction of species. In late 2019, a #UN report issued a stark #warning about the scope of the catastrophe,

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#ProtectOurWildlife 🦍🦦🦇

https://www.ipbes.net/news/ipbes-global-assessment-preview

IPBES Global Assessment Preview

Introducing IPBES' 2019 Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services First global biodiversity assessment since 2005

^{IPBES secretariat}

predicting that up to one million #animal and #plant species could soon be extinct.

Some #forests are already deemed “empty” in the wake of rampant #hunting and #poaching.

This problem goes beyond China and the current coronavirus pandemic and is driving the extinction of species in many countries, so we are calling for the worldwide closure of wildlife markets.

Please sign and share our petition and speak out against these barbaric markets.

- Rainforest Rescue

https://www.rainforest-rescue.org/petitions/1211/shut-down-wildlife-markets-now

Shut down wildlife markets NOW!

With their brisk trade in endangered and poached animals, wildlife markets in many countries are driving the extinction of species. The markets are also breeding grounds for diseases that can also be deadly to humans.

^{www.rainforest-rescue.org}