A wet market selling snakes and bats for consumption is still open in Indonesia despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, PETA reported.

The notorious Tomohon Market in Sulawesi, Indonesia is popular around the world for merchants who sell bats, dogs, cats, and other animals.

PETA claims to have visited the famous market in April and found that ‘the flesh of wild boars, snakes, dogs, and rats… were openly sold at the market.’

“Gloveless workers and customers were seen handling the body parts of animals who had been killed on site,” the animal rights group claimed.

Many experts believe that the coronavirus could’ve been transmitted to humans via pathogens found in Wuhan markets.

In addition to being a delicacy in some parts of China, bats are also made into Paniki, a curry-like dish, that is eaten by those living on Sulawesi island. This traditional dish has the whole bat, including the head and the wings.

In an interview with The Sun, William W. Wongso, a culinary expert and cookbook author, said: “Bats are the favourite indigenous protein, particularly in North Sulawesi. My favourite part is the wings.”

There have been many calls to shut down the markets and end the practice from animal rights organizations, governments, and also animal lover and comedian Ricky Gervais.

“For the sake of people and animals, wildlife trade and consumption has to end, now,” the 58-year-old said.

“We can’t carry on exploiting animals, eating wildlife and trashing the planet. The wildlife trade and markets have to close, otherwise it will be a case of when, and not if, we have another global pandemic.

“How bad does this have to get before you close down Indonesia’s extreme animal markets that pose the exact same risk as the wildlife wet markets in Wuhan, China?”

In an interview with The Independent, Dr. Richard Ostfeld, a senior scientist at the Caray Institute of Ecosystem Studies, said: “The risk of a zoonotic virus jumping to people is mostly tied to excretions from infected wildlife, including saliva, urine and faeces.

“It is also possible that transmission can occur in the killing and butchering of the animals. Consuming cooked meat, whether of wildlife or livestock, does not pose the same risk.

“The health risk is in the housing of various species of wildlife, which don’t co-occur in nature, in very close quarters and in unhygienic conditions.

“Under these conditions, animals are stressed and shedding pathogens, which can be easily transmitted to other animals and to people.”

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