Shocking report reveals how 5.5 billion wild animals are being kept in cruel conditions around the world - sparking fears of an animal-borne pandemic on the scale of Covid

Whether it's for entertaining tourists or to harvest their bones, across the world billions of wild animals are being exploited for profit. A shocking report shared exclusively with MailOnline has revealed that 5.5 billion wild animals from 487 different species are being kept in cruel conditions, creating a massive risk for both humans and animals. Across Asia, bears of many different species, such as the Asiatic black bear, are kept in cruel conditions to harvest the bile from the gallbladder which is highly prized for its role in Traditional Chinese Medicine Many animals, such as these ball pythons which were being exported via Ethiopian Airlines, are raised to be pets Researchers from WAP analysed online records from around the world to determine the extent of wild animal farming. This photo is taken at an overcrowded farm in Thailand with over 50,000 crocodiles Working elephants like these in Thailand often face health and psychological issues as they are forced to entertain tourists World Animal Protection looked at 34 tourism venues in Thailand where they found more than 1,300 captive wild elephants which are used to give tourists ride and swimming experiences as shown here at Mason Elephant Park How many wild animals are kept in cruel conditions worldwide? Poorly recorded data makes it difficult to know for certain, but World Animal Protection estimates that there are at least: 5.5 billion total wild animals 900 million animals officially recorded 96.5 million foxes, mink, and raccoon dogs 24,000 Asiatic bears 7,978 lions in South Africa alone 2,798 elephants in Thailand While the global wildlife farming industry breeds hundreds of different species, the researchers highlight three in particular: bears, elephants, and lions.