The Chinese city at the center of the coronavirus pandemic has banned the consumption of wild animals — while offering cash incentives for farmers to quit breeding exotic creatures, according to a report.
Wuhan, in China’s Hubei province, officially prohibited eating wild animals as well as hunting them within city limits, declaring itself a “wildlife sanctuary” Wednesday, CBS reported. The virus is widely believed to have emerged from a wet market in the city, possibly jumping from bats to humans via an intermediary animal such as a pangolin.
The only exception for hunting would be for “scientific research, population regulation, monitoring of epidemic diseases and other special circumstances,” the report said.
Officials said that rearing wild animals for the purpose of eating them was also banned and announced it would participate in nationwide efforts to buy out these breeders.
China already banned wildlife trade nationwide to prevent the spread of COVID-19, which has now infected more than 4.9 million people worldwide.
The finance ministry has also issued new incentives to get wild creatures out of the country, offering tax rebates to export animal products such as edible snakes and turtles, primate meat and rhino horns, the Wall Street Journal reported.
But a report by the US Congressional Research Service warned that incentivizing the sale of wild animals abroad, while banned at home, “could spread the risk to global markets,” according to the outlet.
