Myanmar: According to a report by the World Wildlife Fund, illegal wildlife transactions are on the rise in Myanmar, posing a hazard to both human health and endangered animals. According to a report released on Friday, enforcement of such transaction limitations has decreased as a result of political uncertainty following a military takeover in 2021.
The number of such transactions increased by 74% year over year to 11,046, with nearly all of them involving live animal purchases. According to the research, 54 of the 173 species trafficked are on the verge of extinction. Wildlife traders have 639 Facebook accounts, according to researchers. It claimed that the largest online trade club had over 19,000 members and dozens of posts per week.
Elephants, bears, and gibbons, Tibetan antelope, highly endangered pangolins, and an Asian giant tortoise were among the creatures purchased and sold. The most popular were several monkey species, which were frequently purchased as pets. The majority of the animals for sale were captured in the wild. They also included civets, which, like pangolins, have been recognised as potential disease vectors for diseases like SARS and COVID-19.
Monitoring of the online wildlife trade shows diverse species being kept close together, sometimes in the same cage, according to Shaun Martin, who heads the WWF’s Asia-Pacific regional cybercrime project. “Given Asia’s history as a breeding ground for many recent zoonotic illnesses,” he said, “this dramatic increase in the online trafficking of wildlife in Myanmar is quite worrying.”
Experts warn that the unregulated commerce in wild animals and the resultant interactions between wild animals and humans increase the potential of novel and possibly vaccine-resistant mutations of diseases like COVID-19 evolving unnoticed in non-human hosts into more severe versions of the disease.
COVID-19 is one of a number of diseases linked to animals. Bushmeat was assumed to be a source of Ebola because it was killed and sold in Africa. Bird flu was most likely spread by hens at a Hong Kong market in 1997. The virus that causes measles is thought to have originated in cattle.
“Illegal wildlife trade is a serious concern in terms of biodiversity preservation and conservation, as well as its potential impact on health security,” said Mary Elizabeth G. Miranda, a zoonotic disease expert and the CEO of the Field Epidemiology Training Program Alumni Foundation in the Philippines.
WWF says Myanmar is having illegal trade of wildlife
A worldwide initiative to combat the growing traffic in birds, reptiles, mammals, and animal parts has enlisted the help of social media and other internet platforms. Much of the wildlife trafficking in Myanmar occurs on Facebook, which, as a member of the Coalition to End Wildlife Trafficking Online, has taken steps to block or erase accounts of those involved in such transactions.
However, as is the case elsewhere, new accounts frequently spring up as soon as old ones are closed, obstructing enforcement, according to the research. Demand is also increasing as a result of easy online access to the animals, exacerbating the problem. Purchases of protected animals were frequently discussed in open Facebook groups, implying that such transactions are “essentially risk-free,” according to the analysis.
Controlling the situation is made more difficult by the fact that payments and delivery are frequently made using messenger apps. People involved in the illicit wildlife trade in Myanmar frequently use simple techniques to transport animals and animal goods, with buses being the most common mode of transportation.
Though there were some imports from nearby Thailand, primarily of birds such as hornbills and salmon crested cockatoos, and of crocodiles to India, the WWF investigation in Myanmar concentrated on internet trafficking of animals and other things within the country. According to the report, some arrangements may involve the shipment of animals or parts to China.