Short-Term Memory?

Prior to the Covid19 pandemic, wild mammal 'farming' (for human consumption), was encouraged in rural Chinese communities. This 'industry' was advocated as an easy way for people, in those locations, to get seriously rich. Before Covid restrictions, 14 million people were employed in a sector that was worth an estimated £60bn. Strong suspicions that the Covid19 virus had 'jumped' from farmed wild animals to humans, resulted in the Chinese government banning such activity (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/15/chinas-return-to-wildlife-farming-a-risk-to-global-health-and-biodiversity). The Chinese government now appears likely to 'relax' its restrictions on the farming, transport and consumption of wild animals. Rural folk could return to farming porcupines, civet cats and Bamboo rats. They could also restart taking bats and pangolins from the wild, to sell to city folk for inflated prices. These activities could result in other bacteria, viruses and fungi making a 'giant leap forward' into human populations. More zoonotic diseases are always possibilities when humans and animals have close contact. Wild animal farming and hunting exotic species also, of course, seriously threaten biodiversity and the maintenance of ecological systems. How quickly, we forget?