With Chinese scientists saying the endangered pangolin could be the potential link that facilitated the spread of coronavirus across China, a report in Independent Urdu has argued if the novel virus could have reached the neighbouring country from Pakistan, where the scaly anteater is quite commonly found.
According to the report, the rather expensive pangolin meat is widely consumed by the Chinese, and to meet its demand, China imports the animal from other countries, including Pakistan.
Although pangolin is found all across the country, its largest population is there in the Potohar region — northern parts of Punjab bordering the western parts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and the southern parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
While it is an environment-friendly animal, there’s been a 90%, 80% and 50% decrease in its population in KP and Sindh, Punjab, and AJK, respectively, amid a spike in pangolin trafficking.
The pangolin is considered the most trafficked animal on the planet and more than one million have been snatched from Asian and African forests in the past decade, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
According to a report in DAWN, some officials say that pangolin meat is being sold in the local market, as people coming from China like it. A large number of Chinese people are staying in Karachi, working on projects related to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). But these allegations have never been formally investigated or proven.
China in January ordered a temporary ban on the trade in wild animals until the epidemic is under control. The country has long been accused by conservationists of tolerating a shadowy trade in endangered animals for food or as ingredients in traditional medicines.
“If we want to do everything in our power to prevent deadly disease outbreaks such as coronavirus, then a permanent ban on wildlife trade, in China, and around the world, is the only solution,” said Neil D’Cruze, global head of wildlife research at World Animal Protection.
A price list that circulated on China’s internet for business at the Wuhan market showed a menagerie of animals or animal-based products including live foxes, crocodiles, wolf puppies, giant salamanders, snakes, rats, peacocks, porcupines, camel meat and other game — 112 items in all.
The SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) virus that killed hundreds of people in China and Hong Kong in 2002-03 also has been traced to wild animals, with scientists saying it likely originated in bats, later reaching humans via civets.
