BY SHARON UDASIN – 09/15/21 03:36 PM EDT

The capture of wild animals for domestic consumption not only poses a threat to protected migratory species but also significantly increases the risk of zoonotic diseases like COVID-19, according to aUnited Nations reportreleased Wednesday.

Hunting such animals for consumption within national borders istaking a toll on most terrestrial speciesprotected under the U.N.’s Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), a news release accompanying the study said.

The report, published by CMS and the U.N. Environment Program, also found strong evidence linking “wild meat taking and consumption” to zoonotic diseases like the coronavirus that are transmitted from animals to humans.

“They’re kept in horrible cages where they’re stressed and suffering from trauma, and so their immune systems are suppressed — you almost couldn’t design a better way of encouraging pathogens, viruses, bacteria, parasites, to jump species,”…