OPINION SURVEY ON COVID-19 AND WILDLIFE TRADE IN 5 ASIAN MARKETS

The survey of 5,000 respondents across Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam reveals high levels of concern regarding COVID-19 and strong support for closing illegal wildlife markets to prevent future pandemics. While support for closures is nearly universal in Southeast Asian markets, it is lower in Japan, where respondents perceive such markets to be less prevalent. The report identifies a strong public link between wildlife trade and zoonotic outbreaks, with a majority of respondents indicating they would stop consuming wildlife products if markets were closed.

• A significant majority of respondents across the five surveyed markets expressed high levels of concern regarding the COVID-19 outbreak, with 78% reporting they were 'extremely or very worried'. This worry was more pronounced among females (81%) and people with children (82%).
• There is strong public belief that closing illegal and unregulated wildlife markets is an effective way to prevent future pandemics, with 79% of respondents viewing such closures as effective. Conversely, 85% of respondents stated they would be 'extremely worried or very worried' about a similar future outbreak if no measures were taken to close or strictly regulate these markets.
• Support for government-led closures of illegal and unregulated wildlife markets is very high in Southeast Asia, with 94% of respondents in those regions being 'very likely or likely' to support such efforts. In Japan, support is lower at 54%, which the report attributes to the fact that 59% of Japanese respondents believe such markets do not exist in their country.
• The survey found that 91% of respondents are 'unlikely or very unlikely' to purchase wildlife products from illegal and unregulated markets in the future. Among those who indicated they might still buy such products, 41% stated they would stop buying wildlife products entirely if open markets were shut down.
• Only 4% of respondents reported that they or someone they know purchased wildlife products in open markets in the past 12 months. These buyers were predominantly male (69%) and aged 56 or older (49%), with the most frequently purchased species being snakes (58%), civet cats (46%), and pangolins (35%).
• Public trust in institutions to combat COVID-19 varies by market. Across all five markets, medical professionals are the most trusted (70%), followed by scientific/academic research institutions (49%) and local government (32%). In Japan, the national government is the most trusted (55%), while in Vietnam, the United Nations is listed as one of the top three most trusted institutions (40%).

APA

WWF International (2020). OPINION SURVEY ON COVID-19 AND WILDLIFE TRADE IN 5 ASIAN MARKETS. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/215/4dmjadutc9_WWF_CMS_SINGLES_PAGE.pdf

Chicago

WWF International. OPINION SURVEY ON COVID-19 AND WILDLIFE TRADE IN 5 ASIAN MARKETS. 2020. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/215/4dmjadutc9_WWF_CMS_SINGLES_PAGE.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=WWF International |title=OPINION SURVEY ON COVID-19 AND WILDLIFE TRADE IN 5 ASIAN MARKETS |date=April 2020 |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/215/4dmjadutc9_WWF_CMS_SINGLES_PAGE.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wwfinternational2020opinion, author = {{WWF International}}, title = {{OPINION SURVEY ON COVID-19 AND WILDLIFE TRADE IN 5 ASIAN MARKETS}}, institution = {WWF International}, year = {2020}, month = apr, url = {https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/215/4dmjadutc9_WWF_CMS_SINGLES_PAGE.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }