Coronavirus: ‘Exotic’ skins in shoe and handbag fashion stores fuel risk of further epidemics, say experts

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Lynn Johnson, founder of Nature Needs More, told The Independent: “The risks involved aren’t only about wet markets, they are also about legal captive breeding facilities. While the world is talking about wet markets in China and throughout Asia, it is avoiding seeing this as an issue of legal global trade Lynn Johnson In 2016 a European parliament report revealed the world’s wildlife trade was “one of the most lucrative in the world”. “If these captive breeding facilities stay open who will pay for monitoring to ensure meat doesn’t make its way into the food chain, if eating such meat is banned?” Mark Jones, of Born Free, a trained vet, said: “Any trade in wild animals carries a risk to people. “Poor husbandry, transport and hygiene conditions on wildlife ‘farms’ may render farmed animals particularly susceptible.” Nature Needs More is lobbying for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species to update its system of paper permits – which Ms Johnson says is rife with abuse and corruption – to an electronic one.