Absurdity At Its Best! Illegal Wildlife Traders In China Sell Rhino Horn As Cure To Coronavirus

Almost all the studies have concluded that the source of the deadly Coronavirus outbreak that is wreaking havoc in China and around the world was the illegal wildlife market in Wuhan.

It is believed that the virus was transferred from bats to humans via pangolin, a critically endangered animal that is a much sought after commodity in the?Chinese illegal wildlife trade markets.

Wuhan has a huge market that sells all kinds of animals or animal-based products including live foxes, crocodiles, wolf puppies, giant salamanders, snakes, rats, peacocks, porcupines, camel meat, etc. including many those are banned.?

Now even after the deadly virus outbreak, illegal wildlife traders are trying to cash in.

According to the UK-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), wildlife traders are now offering a so-called cure for Coronavirus, including rhino horns and other endangered species parts.

AFP

Wildlife traffickers and merchants in Laos and China have been using social media platforms to hawk products like Angong Niuhuang Wan, a classic prescription believed to treat the effects of strokes and reduce fever. It is sold on social media in the form of pellets and balls made up of minerals, herbs and animal parts. Now, this ancient medicine is being touted by several sellers as an effective cure for the new coronavirus.

“The irony of traders marketing an illegal wildlife product to treat a virus believed to have originated in the wildlife meat trade again highlights the need for governments, particularly China, to tackle demand for threatened wildlife used in traditional medicine,” the EIA said.

AFP

The country has long been accused by conservationists of tolerating a shadowy trade in endangered animals for food or as ingredients in traditional medicines.?

China remains a primary consumer of parts and products of rhinos, big cats, pangolins and several other species, including for their use in traditional medicines. To tackle this demand, policy changes needed include a comprehensive, permanent ban on the use of parts and products of wildlife threatened by trade, including those from captive sources.

AFP

Rhino, one of the most critically endangered animals in the world is a much sought-after commodity in the underground markets of China. Though traditional Chinese medicine claims that the rhino horn has several medicinal properties modern science has rejected it. Rhino horns are made of keratin, the same type of protein that makes up hair and fingernails.?

This has however not stopped Rhinos from being killed for their horns, both in Africa and Asian countries including India.