I wonder if soon it will be the "lowly" horseshoe bats' turn to go the way of the palm civet - first hunted relentlessly as a delicacy and then eradicated as a disease vector. There was so little public comment, let alone outcry, when the Chinese govenmnent instituted its search and destroy policies on civets. Has there been a concurrent campaign of any size to educate the Chinese public about the dangers of trapping and consuming these species? Civets and bats are only a small part of this industry. For example, already vulnerable wild tiger populations (all of them) have been driven to the brink of extinction, largely due to the trade in tiger parts for food and "medicinal" purposes. What chance does wildlife have?

Between SARs being carried by bats and the avian bird flu, maybe China should start to encourage vegetarianism for public health reasons.