China ‘comprehensively’ bans illegal wildlife trade

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(FILES) In this file photo taken on June 30, 2017, a juvenile Sunda pangolin feeds on termites at the Singapore Zoo. – The endangered pangolin may be the link that facilitated the spread of the novel coronavirus across China, Chinese scientists said on February 7, 2020. Researchers at the South China Agricultural University have identified the scaly mammal as a “potential intermediate host,” the university said in a statement, without providing further details. (Photo by ROSLAN RAHMAN / AFP)

BEIJING, China (AFP) — China on Monday declared an immediate and “comprehensive” ban on the trade and consumption of wild animals, a practice believed responsible for the deadly coronavirus outbreak.

The country’s top legislative committee met on Monday and approved a proposal “on comprehensively prohibiting the illegal wildlife trade, abolishing the bad habit of overconsumption of wildlife, and effectively protecting the lives and health of the people,” state television reported.

© Agence France-Presse