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Potsdam (dpa / bb) - Brandenburg advocates stronger control of the trade in wild animals in Germany in the conference of environment ministers with the other federal states.
Uncontrolled trade not only threatens biodiversity, but also human health directly and globally, said Environment Minister Axel Vogel (Greens) on Monday on the occasion of World Species Conservation Day on March 3rd.
While the exact background of the corona pandemic is currently being investigated internationally, it is already clear that "uncontrolled removal and use of wild animals" ultimately enables the transfer of such pathogens, it said.
In Brandenburg, around five to ten percent more registrations of protected species were registered with the State Office for the Environment during the period of the pandemic.
This leads to the conclusion that buying, keeping and trading animals of wild species would have increased with the lockdown.
According to the Ministry, around 800 parrots and around 1000 tortoises are raised annually by experienced hobby breeders from Brandenburg who could advise those interested.
But animals are also acquired through shady channels, mostly illegal wild-caught - traders, but buyers and owners are also liable to prosecution.
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© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210301-99-644203 / 2