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. There is no excuse for the existence of these markets – it’s time to shut them down NOW.

The outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China, cast a harsh light on wildlife markets. The Huanan Seafood Market, 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.

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.

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.

From the 15th to the 28th of October 2020, China will host the UN Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, where representatives of nearly 200 countries will seek ways to stop the mass extinction. We need to have a worldwide ban in place by then at the latest.

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