At a wildlife market in the Indonesian province of North Sulawesi, bats are on the menu.
Many of them are caught by hunters in forests using nets and hooks. Once at the market, their wings are removed, their fur scorched off using a blow torch, and they’re then skewered ready for cooking.
In many places where bats are a delicacy, they’ve been off the menu in recent months.
The link between bushmeat and the fight against the virus puts further pressure on this illegal trade.
It is believed to have been at an animal market in Wuhan where COVID-19 first jumped from animals to humans.
The Indonesian Langowan market is known for its exotic meats such as snakes, lizards, rats and wild boar.
“Buyers were afraid to eat bat meat. But gradually, because they think that we have a different way of cooking, they are not afraid of it anymore,” manager Yani Tulangow told Business Insider Today. “Recently trade is back to normal.”
Tulangow told us that there are no controls over the bat meat sold at the market. And he has no plans to shut down any of the wild animal trade.
But according to experts, a market where other species are hoarded and slaughtered in an unhealthy environment provides the ideal environment for an overflow-type opportunity to occur.
“It is likely what is going on in Wuhan will be occurring in Indonesia,” Raden Wasito, professor of veterinary medicine at Gadjah Mada University said from his laboratory in Jakarta.
“The Wuhan situation where the coronavirus became pandemic, it’s almost similar to what is going on in Indonesia where there are so many wild animal markets. All of those things can create a reservoir for many kinds of diseases.”
The passage of diseases from animals to humans, called zoonoses, is not limited to so-called “wet” markets. They can occur in any context where humans combine with animals, whether pets or livestock.
“Spillover effects are common, all the time,” Dave Redding, a senior researcher at the Center for Biodiversity and Environment Research at University College London, told Business Insider Today.
“People get diseases from livestock all over the world. It happens every day, dozens, if not many, times. “
“And I don’t think these wet markets are going to have the same impact as all of the other contacts that are going on. And so it may be a really nice thing to say, we can just get rid of wet markets and it will solve the problem. It won’t solve the problem.”
World Health Organization researchers are still searching for the precise origins of COVID-19.
Bats are the main suspects, as they could possibly be transmitting the virus to humans through an animal host.
“There are multiple coronaviruses known, some of which are closely related to SARS, some of which are closely related to COVID,” Kris Murray, senior lecturer in Infectious Disease Epidemiology at Imperial College London, said. “And it does look like this particular particular group of bats is a sort of reservoir, the animal reservoir, for these groups of coronaviruses.”
There are more than 1,000 species of bats. Living in compact colonies but capable of traveling wonderful distances, they are effective only at harboring, but also at moving pathogens.
But even if bats are to blame this time, Murray is willing to point out that the risks of a new infectious disease jumping from a bat, or any animal, to a human – and then becoming a fatal pandemic – are still minimal.
“We have had a very long history of exposure to wildlife and we’ve had every opportunity in the last 100 years of massive environmental destruction for so many of these things to have spilled out from wildlife into people,” he said.
“What surprises me is that these kinds of things don’t happen again. They can happen, but the fact that we only have two hundred or 250 viruses of all the species that have entered the human population is what we know, given that All The generation that we have to encounter those viruses tells me that this procedure is very strange.
Strange, in the case of COVID-19, a reality.
In North Sulawesi, black and yellow flying foxes, some with wingspans of more than a meter, gorge on fruit, pollen and nectar.
Here they are hunted like pests, also for their meat. Herman Buhel, from the Gorontalo region, 350 kilometers west of Langowan, hunts bats in the mangroves of Ponelo Island.
“I use nylon, rope and wood. I wait for the bat to pass and get caught on the hook. The hook is in the nylon,” he explains.
The Sulawesi fruit bat is classified as vulnerable because of overhunting, according to the IUCN Red List of endangered species.
And with the human population expanding and habitats threatened by urbanization and palm plantations, many worry in the long term only about bats, but about all wild animals hunted for meat or sold for sale. smugglers of exotic species.
“There are several places selling animals that I never imagined could be sold,” said Annisa Devi Rachmawati, a vet working at the Tasikoki Animal Rescue Center in North Sulawesi.
“The government and institutions will have to pay attention to how to mitigate this phenomenon, such as the animal industry and the consumption of animal meat and other types of meat. “
Bat meat is a delicacy in this part of Indonesia, reserved for special events and holidays.
In the Langowan market, a kilo sells for about 3 dollars.
“We have eaten it and no one has caught the coronavirus,” said resident Kiki Rondonuwu as he bought several bats at the market.
“It’s so delicious,” says butcher Jane Wungkara. We’ve been eating it since we were kids. “
Breaking habits of a lifetime will be hard. And it’s feared that banning the sale of bat meat in markets would only drive the trade underground.
Cooking a traditional bat meat curry involves boiling the meat before mixing in coconut milk and plenty of spices.
Although the bat remains the villain of a drama that is still ongoing, at least here it is a dish to be savored.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This video was originally published in December 2020.
In a wild animal market in Indonesia’s North Sulawesi province, bats are still on the menu.
Many of them are caught by hunters in forests using nets and hooks. Once at the market, their wings are removed, their fur scorched off using a blow torch, and they’re then skewered ready for cooking.
In many places where bats are a delicacy, they’ve been off the menu in recent months.
The link between bushmeat and the trend towards the virus has increased pressure on this illegal trade.
An animal market in Wuhan is where it’s believed COVID-19 first made the leap from animal to human.
Indonesia’s Langowan market is well known for its exotic meats like snake, lizard, rats, and wild boar.
“Buyers were afraid to eat bat meat. But gradually, because they think that we have a different way of cooking, they are not afraid of it anymore,” manager Yani Tulangow told Business Insider Today. “Recently trade is back to normal.”
Tulangow told us that there is no excess bat meat sold in the market. And it has no plans to end the wildlife trade.
But experts say a market where other species are grazed and slaughtered in an unhealthy environment is the best environment for a spillover event to occur.
“What happens in Wuhan is most likely going to happen in Indonesia,” said Raden Wasito, a professor of veterinary medicine at Gadjah Mada University, from his laboratory in Jakarta.
“The Wuhan situation where the coronavirus became pandemic, it’s almost similar to what is going on in Indonesia where there are so many wild animal markets. All of those things can create a reservoir for many kinds of diseases.”
The passage of diseases from animals to humans, called zoonoses, is not limited to so-called “wet” markets. They can occur in any context where humans combine with animals, whether pets or livestock.
“The consequences are common, they happen all the time,” Dave Redding, a senior researcher at the Center for Environmental and Biodiversity Research at University College London, told Business Insider Today.
“People get diseases from livestock all over the world. It happens every day, dozens, if not many, times. “
“And I don’t think those rainy markets are going to have the same effect as all the other contacts that are taking place. So, maybe it’s really smart to say we can get rid of rainy markets. “And that will solve the problem.
Researchers at the World Health Organization are still searching for the precise origins of COVID-19.
Bats are a prime suspect, perhaps transferring the virus to people by way of another animal host.
“There are several known coronaviruses, some of which are very similar to SARS, some of which are very similar to COVID,” said Kris Murray, a senior lecturer in infectious disease epidemiology at Imperial College London. “And it turns out that this specific “The organization of bats is a kind of reservoir, the animal reservoir, for those groups of coronaviruses. “
There are more than 1,000 species of bats. Living in compact colonies but capable of traveling wonderful distances, they are effective not only at harboring, but also at moving pathogens.
But even if bats are to blame this time, Murray is keen to point out the chances of a new infectious disease passing from a bat, or any animal, to a human — and then going on to become a lethal pandemic — is still tiny.
“We have a very long history of exposure to wildlife and we’ve had every single opportunity over the last hundred years of great environmental destruction for a lot of those things to spread from wildlife to humans,” he said.
“What surprises me is that this kind of thing doesn’t happen again. They can happen, but the fact that we only have two hundred or 250 viruses of all species that have entered the human population, what we know, given all the generation that we have to stumble upon those viruses tells me that this procedure is very rare. “
Rare, in the case of COVID-19, a reality.
In North Sulawesi, black and yellow flying foxes, some with wingspans of more than a meter, gorge on fruit, pollen and nectar.
Here they are hunted as pests, but also for their meat.Herman Buhel of the Gorontalo region, 350 kilometers west of Langowan, hunts bats among the mangrove forests of Ponelo island.
“I use nylon, rope, and wood. I wait for the bat to pass and get caught in the hook. The hook is attached to the nylon,” he told us.
The Sulawesi fruit bat is classified as due to overhunting, according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
And with the human population expanding and habitats threatened by urbanization and palm plantations, many worry long-term only about bats, although all wild animals are hunted for their meat or sold to exotic species smugglers.
“There are several places that promote animals that I never imagined I could sell,” said Annisa Devi Rachmawati, a veterinarian at the Tasikoki Animal Rescue Center in North Sulawesi.
“There must be attention from the government and from institutions to monitor how to reduce this pattern like the animal trade, and the consumption of animal meat and other kinds.”
Bat meat is a delicacy in this part of Indonesia, reserved for special events and holidays.
At Langwan market, a kilo sells for about $3.
“We have eaten them and no one has caught the coronavirus,” said resident Kiki Rondonuwu as she bought several bats at the market.
“It’s so delicious,” says local butcher Jane Wungkara. “We have eaten it since we were children.”
It will be difficult to break with lifelong habits. And it is feared that the ban on the sale of bat meat in the markets will drive this industry underground.
Cooking a classic bat meat curry involves boiling the meat before mixing it with coconut milk and lots of spices.
Even if the bat remains the villain in a still-unfolding global drama, at least here it’s a dish to savor.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This video was originally published in December 2020.
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