Opinion Survey on COVID-19 and Wildlife Trade in Five Asian Markets

The COVID-19 coronavirus, which is suspected to have originated in Wuhan in the Hubei province of China, has become a global pandemic. With illegal and unregulated wildlife markets likely to increase the risk of outbreaks in the future, WWF commissioned GlobeScan to conduct a survey among the general public in Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam to measure and better understand opinions on what support looks like for the closure of all illegal and unregulated markets, within the context of the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Between the 3rd and the 11th of March, 2020, GlobeScan interviewed 5,000 respondents. Respondents were randomly selected and were asked about their sentiments on the coronavirus outbreak in their respective country and their opinions on illegal and unregulated markets selling wildlife. For the purpose of this survey, ‘wild animals’ were defined as non-domesticated, non-livestock terrestrial animals (non-insect and non-aquatic).