Regarding the editorial (Facing the coronavirus together, March 18):
The researchers at the South China Agricultural University in Guangzhou have suggested pangolins (long-snouted, scaly, ant-eating mammals) as the animal source of COVID-19. According to them, the coronavirus found in the pangolins showed a 99 per cent genetic match to the virus circulating in the infected human body.
In the year 2000, China issued detailed regulations for more than 1,700 protected species including the pangolins acknowledging them to have biological, scientific and social values. In 2007, the sale of pangolin products outside the specially certified hospitals and clinics was outlawed. But none of these helped as in January 2019, nine tons of pangolins were seized in a single shipment in Hong Kong. The next 33 tons of pangolin meat were seized in Malaysia and Singapore In April 2019.
It is a matter of grave concern that China has wildlife trading bans on the books for three decades, but those have not prevented pangolins from becoming the most trafficked mammal in the world. The regulatory framework in China has not specified what wildlife entails. Enforcement has been lax, and there are exceptions anyway for licensed retailers for the sale of pangolins. The latest ban also has loopholes which will allow the trade of wildlife for medicines or research. In a review of this epidemic, there has to be a holistic view of all factors.
Tushar Anand,
Bihar, India
