An investigation by the Daily Mirror has revealed that Border Agency staff seized more than 2,500 pounds of wild animal meat at UK airports in 2018 and 2019, leading to fears of future pandemics in the country.

Home Office data shows that this figure is on the rise, up from the 2,086 pounds of bushmeat smuggled into the country in 2016 and 2017, and more than double the amount confiscated in 2014 and 2015.

The illegal bushmeat trade is certainly detrimental to wildlife populations but can also put human health at risk, with experts cautioning that this horrific business could lead to the spread of zoonotic diseases, like the coronavirus, in the future.

“While this global pandemic started in Wuhan, it is just as possible for the next…