Wuhan, the city at the epicentre of the coronavirus, has issued a statement saying that it has officially banned the consumption of wild animals.
Reports have also said that Chinese farmers are being offered cash to quit breeding exotic animals. Since the Covid-19 virus took hold of the world, there have been calls for China to crack down on the illegal wildlife trade that many blame as the cause of the pandemic.
The local administration in the Chinese city said that along with the eating ban, Wuhan would become a “wildlife sanctuary” where virtually all hunting of wild animals was prohibited with the exception of measures for ”scientific research, population regulation, monitoring of epidemic diseases and other special circumstances”.
This new policy, which has been effective since May 13, will stay in place for five years, according to a notice released by the Wuhan government.
Scientists have said in the past that that the virus had likely jumped on to humans from wild animals sold as food at a wet market in the city of 11 million.
So far the global death toll from coronavirus now stands at 318,789 people and more than 4.7m people have been infected worldwide.
Multiple world leaders have called on Beijing to allow a probe into the coronavirus outbreak.
