Thai officials vow to curb risks by fighting wildlife trade

Thai officials say they intend to ramp up efforts to curb trade in wildlife to help reduce the risk of future pandemics

BANGKOK -- Thailand is ramping up efforts to curb trade in wildlife to help reduce the risk of future pandemics, officials said Thursday, though it was unclear whether that would mean an end to all sales of exotic species in the wildlife trafficking hub. The government intends to make Thailand “free of the legal wildlife trade” while also combatting illegal trafficking in wild animals, Minister for Natural Resources and the Environment Waravut Silpa-archa said Thursday. Speaking in pre-recorded addresses, Silpa-archa and other officials said the pandemic has raised the urgency of shutting down the supply chain of wildlife and game meat that is thought to be a key factor in the spread of COVID-19, Ebola and other illnesses. The motto for the campaign, he said, is, “Stop disease and extinctions: Never eat, buy, hunt or sell wildlife.”