World Animal Protection has launched a global digital campaign to end wildlife trade. As it’s evident that Covid-19 and many other deadly epidemics come from animal trade, the campaign’s main aim is to amount pressure on South Africa and other G20 countries to commit to a ban on the global wildlife trade.
In her remarks, Edith Kabesiime, Campaigns Manager at World Animal Protection said, “The leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies can bring about a collective response and global answers to the COVID-19 pandemic and future pandemics. We can no longer afford to leave this to chance.”
“A global wildlife trade ban is the only way to end the cruelty and protect our health and economies,” she stated.
Kabesiime added that, “Animals like lions are at the centre of a cruel multi-billion-dollar business that exploits them on an industrial scale. Their bones are traded as medicine, bred in captivity, enduring a life of suffering. They are deprived of the life they would have in the wild. They are shipped around as freight, treated as mere commodities, with their wellbeing ignored.”
She further noted that the animals are crammed into cages, kept in poor health, and often killed for their body parts which she referred to as “a business that is inherently cruel.”
The organization is also working with media, social media influencers and the general public across the globe to put pressure on the G20 Countries to end the trade.
