World Animal Protection Africa Director Tennyson Williams. [PHOTO: CYNDY ALUOCH]Wildlife farming involves the breeding and keeping of wild animals in captivity for commercial purposes, including the sale of their meat, skins, or live bodies for the pet trade or tourism.
While some governments and communities see it as a tool for economic growth and conservation, critics warn that it poses serious health, environmental, and criminal risks.
In Kenya, it has quietly expanded with little public scrutiny or legal clarity.
A new report by World Animal Protection highlights how the practice fuels the spread of zoonotic diseases and facilitates illegal wildlife trade, raising concerns for both public health and law enforcement agencies.
The report dubbed ‘Behind bars: Lifting the lid off Kenya’s cruel wildlife farming,’ notes that each year, zoonotic diseases spread between animals and humans cause an estimated 2.7 million deaths worldwide.
Experts warn that the majority of such diseases, about 72 percent, originate from wildlife.
This staggering statistic has cast a spotlight on wildlife farms, which provide environments where humans and animals frequently interact under poor hygiene and overcrowded conditions.
“Wildlife farms create opportunities for disease emergence and transmission due to the high concentrations of animals, poor hygiene, and regular human contact for husbandry purposes,” the report cautions.
Zoonotic diseases and public health threats.
The report says zoonotic outbreaks are not new since deadly pathogens like the Ebola virus have long been associated with the handling and consumption of wild animal meat.
The recent COVID-19 pandemic, suspected to have originated from bats and linked to wildlife markets, they said, is a stark reminder of the global risks posed by wildlife farming.
The first three recorded cases of COVID-19 were directly tied to the wildlife trade at markets.
According to the report, the consequences extend far beyond health.
The COVID-19 pandemic alone, it says, is estimated to have cost the global economy up to $16 trillion.
“Between 1940 and 2004, nearly three-quarters of zoonotic diseases in human populations originated from wildlife, underscoring the ongoing risk of keeping wild animals in close contact with humans,” the report reads.
The report further cites several worrying examples of disease transmission from farmed wildlife.
It quotes the COVID-19 spread between mink to farm workers in the Netherlands and tapeworms spread from snakes to farm owners in Gambia.
In another case, a skin disease caused by pathogenic fungi spread from a lion to its caretaker.
The criminal dimension.
Wildlife farming is not only a public health concern but also a legal and criminal issue.
The industry, while sometimes operating legally, is deeply entangled with the illegal wildlife trade.
Authorities fear that many farms act as fronts for laundering illegally captured wild animals.
“Although some wildlife farms operate legally, there is a concern that they can be used as a front for laundering illegally captured wild animals. This makes it difficult for authorities to regulate and monitor the trade,” the report states.
Criminal networks often exploit this gray area, blurring the lines between legitimate and illegal practices.
These groups seek influence over legal operations, using them as cover for fraudulent activities.
This overlap creates fertile ground for corruption and weakens law enforcement efforts.
“Criminal networks thrive when the lines between legal and illegal activities become blurred, exacerbating issues of corruption and law enforcement challenges,” the report emphasizes.
Africa in the spotlight.
The concerns are especially pressing in Africa, where wildlife farming and trade play a significant socio-economic role.
The region’s close relationship between communities and wildlife increases the risk of zoonotic spillovers.
In many cases, the economic benefits of wildlife trade, such as tourism and farming, are overshadowed by the potentially devastating health and security consequences.
According to World Animal Protection, the intricate relationship between wildlife farming, public health, criminality, and socio-economic factors is now under increasing scrutiny.
Governments and international organizations face the urgent task of finding a balance between protecting livelihoods and preventing catastrophic outbreaks.
The global toll.
The report notes that zoonotic diseases are estimated to cause 2.5 billion cases of illness annually, in addition to the millions of deaths.
The scale of this toll has forced policymakers to rethink strategies for wildlife farming and trade.
With pathogens able to jump easily from animals to humans, every contact point between people and wildlife represents a potential outbreak.
Between disease risks, economic costs, and criminal exploitation, the global implications are stark.
The report concludes that wildlife farming cannot be viewed in isolation, as it is a part of a complex web that connects health, security, and socio-economic development.
As the world continues to grapple with the aftermath of COVID-19 and prepares for potential future pandemics, experts stress that addressing the risks linked to wildlife farming is not optional but necessary.
“Without stronger regulation, monitoring, and enforcement, both people and economies will remain vulnerable to the next outbreak,” the report states.
