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Coronavirus: It isn't bats that have caused this pandemic - it's humans, says conservationist

Bats are being unfairly blamed for sparking the coronavirus outbreak, and face the potential of long-term damage to their reputation due to unproven theories on the internet, a conservationist has said.

According to Lisa Worledge, from the Bat Conservation Trust (BCT), there is now "misplaced fear" about the role of the creatures during the coronavirus pandemic because of "careless" untruths online.

She is concerned about the long-term reputation of bats, with some countries sanctioning culls to help curb the spread of COVID-19.

"It's been heartbreaking to see the reaction," she said.

"In some places they've culled bats... because of what they've heard, what someone's said, and in some cases these are endangered species.

"So to see some people's reaction - which is born out of fear, and very, very misplaced fear, because of careless things said on social media - is really heartbreaking, particularly for someone like myself.

"But equally it is also really inspiring to see how some people have stepped up - volunteers and members of the public who have jumped to support bats and say how incredible these animals are and go out of their way to set the record straight.

"Yes, there's been some truly horrible things but equally there have been some truly amazing things as well."

In the UK, bats are a protected species and there are hundreds of thousands of the winged mammals across the country.

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While the virus is believed to have originated in Wuhan, China, most scientists say it was most likely transmitted from bats to humans via an intermediary animal such as the armadillo-like pangolin.

The Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, which was closed after being linked to the first cases of coronavirus, is widely considered to be the source of the outbreak but this has not yet been conclusively proven.

Earlier this month, informed Whitehall sources told Sky News that the UK believes it is highly likely the strain of coronavirus behind the global pandemic first passed from animals to humans naturally.

The possibility that SARS-CoV-2 - the coronavirus strain that causes COVID-19 - might have leaked accidentally from a Chinese laboratory cannot be disproved, but it is considered unlikely, they said.

Mrs Worledge said: "It isn't bats that have caused this pandemic, it's humans - it's the way we've treated our environment, it's the way we manipulate our environment, it's the way we bring wildlife into contact with other animals that wouldn't happen naturally through the trade in live wildlife, through wildlife markets - animals kept together, frightened, stressed - these are the conditions which provide a breeding ground.

"Equally, destruction of natural forests for livestock production.

"This pandemic has its origins with human activity. Scientists have shown the chances are there was one single spillover event where a virus moved from whatever the host animal was - we don't think it was a bat - to a human.

"Do not blame wildlife. If anything, this is a case for us protecting our natural heritage and environment far more than we currently do."

People have been reaching out to BCT since the outbreak of the pandemic, she said, and it is urging anyone wanting to know more about bats to do the same, rather than rely on what they hear or read elsewhere.

She said "people have nothing to fear" from seeing bats in their gardens because they like to keep to themselves, adding they have key roles to play in the natural world for a variety of agriculture and are also important pollinators in areas.

"Our concern is longer term that people will just see a headline and not necessarily look at the detail or do that bit of research to see what the facts are," she added.