International animal welfare organization, World Animal Protection welcomes the statement of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, on the importance of preserving wildlife.

The statement by Modi was made on 6th October, 2020 to mark the celebration of Wildlife Week in India. 

In his statement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “Wildlife conservation is ingrained in our ethos and has always been an integral part of our tradition and culture. With a robust and wide network of protected areas our commitment towards wildlife protection is as strong as ever.”

World Animal Protection shares this vision of the Prime Minister and is working diligently to protect wild animals in the wild in India, including the species the Prime Minister has mentioned in his speech – lions, tigers and elephants.

The organization is also working for the better treatment of our oceans, with improved methods of plastic management which the Prime Minister also spoke of.

Despite the strong will of the country’s leadership to protect the wild animals in the country, there are still millions of animals that are being bought and sold for the purpose of entertainment, medicine or as pets.

Trade of Wild Animals led to COVID-19

Wild animals are traded for the purpose of our entertainment, for medicine and are treated as products. This cruel trade causes the suffering of millions of animals and endangers the health of people with pandemics like COVID-19. It also has a terrible impact on our environment.

With this in mind, World Animal Protection has launched a global appeal to ban the trade of wild animals forever. The organisation is appealing to the leader of G20 nation to agree for this global ban when they meet for the G20 nation’s summit in November.

In India, World Animal Protection is urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to support the global call for wildlife trade ban when he represents the country at the G20 summit.

There are strong legal provisions in India which protect wildlife, however, the implementation of these laws has been weak at times.

We appeal to the Government of India to support the remarks of the Prime Minister and effectively enforce existing wildlife protection laws and stop the trade of wild animals and wild animal products.

Gajender K Sharma, Country Director, World Animal Protection India said, “It provides us immense strength to hear such encouraging words from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He has been an advocate for animal welfare and wildlife preservation for a very long time. Hence, it is our duty to appeal to Narendra Modi to support the call for global ban of wildlife trade at the G20 summit.”

In accordance with Article 51(A) (g) of the Indian Constitution – ‘It shall be the fundamental duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life, and to have compassion for living creatures.’

We also appeal to the Government of India to effectively implement the existing laws that protect wild habitats and end the exploitation of wild animals.”   

World Animal Protection has also requested World Health Organisation to permanently ban all wildlife markets around the globe in the wake of coronavirus pandemic and to take a highly precautionary approach to the wildlife trade.

It’s urgent that we come together now to implement to a comprehensive wildlife trade ban to eliminate the threats of future pandemics to our health and economies. #EndWildlifeTrade