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Wildlife farming refers to the raising of traditionallyundomesticated animals in an agricultural setting to produce: living animals forcanned hunting and to be kept aspets; commodities such asfood andtraditional medicine; and materials likeleather,fur andfiber.[1][2][3]
Some conservationists argue, wildlife farming can protect endangered species from extinction by reducing the pressure on populations of wild animals which are oftenpoached for food.[4] Others claim that it may be harmful for the majority of conservation efforts, except for a select few species.[3]
Certain African communities rely onbushmeat to obtain their daily amount of animal protein necessary to be healthy and survive.[5] Oftentimes, bushmeat is not handled with care causing the spread of diseases. Wildlife farming can reduce the spread of diseases by providing African communities with bushmeat that is properly processed.[4]
In his documentary filmThe End of Eden, South African filmmakerRick Lomba, presented examples of the environmentally sustainable and indeed rejuvenating effect of certain types of wildlife farming.[6]
Wildlife farming has been linked to the emergence ofzoonotic diseases, such as theSARs outbreak which has since been connected with the farming of civets.[7]
In recent years, South Africa has seen a massive growth in wildlife ranching (also known asgame farming), which has led to a range of issues due to a lack of regulations.[8] This has led to the reclassification of 33 wild species as farm animals.[9]
As a result of theCOVID-19 pandemic, approximately 20,000 wildlife farms have been shut-down in China. In the preceding years, the Chinese government had been promoting and incentivizing the development of the wildlife farming industry, which was valued as 520bn yuan, or £57bn, in 2017.[10]
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