Korea urged to better regulate wild animals to prevent future pandemics
A child touches a raccoon at an exotic animal cafe in Seoul in this undated photo from a 2019 report on nationwide exotic animal cafes by Animal Welfare Awareness, Research and Education . Courtesy of Animal Welfare Awareness, Research and Education
By Lee Hyo-jin
Recent pandemics caused by “zoonosis” ― disease transmitted from animals to humans ― are driving movements to strengthen controls regarding wild animals in order to prevent future pandemics, according to public health and veterinary experts.
COVID-19, as most scientists believe, originated in bats from southwestern China. It has caused one of the worst zoonotic diseases in history, but it is definitely not the first.
H1N1 came from pigs. MERS, carried by camels, is believed to be originally from bats. In fact, 60 percent of known infectious diseases and 75 percent of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic, according to the World Organization for Animal Health.
“A low-pathogenic virus causing mild symptoms in animals can result in deadly diseases when transmitted to a human body,” said Song Dae-sub, a pharmacology professor at Korea University.
He warned that interacting with wild animals raises the risk of exposure to viruses that can mutate to infect humans.
“Since the 2000s, approximately 80 percent of pandemics are caused by zoonosis. It is likely that the next pandemic, if it ever comes, will also originate in animals,” Song said.
Although experts stress the need to limit unnecessary human-wildlife contact, it seems that Korea remains ill-prepared for possible contagious diseases from animals.
“The loopholes in current laws neglect poorly managed animal facilities and illegal wild animal trade markets, posing potential risk of infectious diseases,” said Lee Hyung-ju, director of the Animal Welfare Awareness, Research and Education (Aware), an animal rights group based in Seoul.
The three major regulatory blind spots pointed out by multiple experts in the country are exotic animal cafes, zoos without qualified veterinarians and wild animal trade markets.
According to Aware, there are more than 60 exotic animal cafes in Korea. Since the 2010s, cafes exhibiting wild animals such as raccoons, meerkats and wallabies have drawn many customers as they can freely touch, feed and cuddle the animals.
“Animals at the cafes are very stressed, prone to various diseases. Also, they cannot get proper medical care since most of the employees are not animal care specialists,” Lee said.
The lack of qualified veterinarians is a serious problem in zoos and aquariums. Many do not have full-time professional veterinarians who can keep track of every animal's health. As some zoos have petting zoos where visitors can touch the animals, they are also considered a vulnerable environment for zoonotic infections.
On Aug. 19, lawmaker Kang Eun-mi proposed revision bills to strengthen regulations on the management and exhibition of wild animals in a bid to prevent future pandemics.
The bills include the amendment of zoo and aquarium laws to introduce an approval system. Touching and feeding animals for entertainment will be strictly prohibited in all animal facilities. Also, state approval will be needed to trade wild animals.
“We believe the revision bills will gain public support amid the coronavirus pandemic, as many people have realized that our safety is closely related with management of wild animals,” Lee said.