Hamza Khan, X, STS School (Minto circle), Aligarh

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   Whenever the term ‘Wildlife’ comes to our minds, the common conception is of a spider-monkey in the Amazon, lots of rain, deforestation, a 'roar' and of course ‘lots of leaves’. Some minds might think about tourism, donation or infection. We are blessed to have some people who think about ‘infections’ from wildlife. The numbers have increased substantially, thanks to the current trending superstar - ‘Novel Coronavirus.‘ But how did it manage to create the global havoc we are seeing around us?
   The story of the COVID-19 virus or Coronavirus has been full of drama and action, somewhat like the climax of a movie. The hero suddenly appears from an unexpected place (Wuhan) and kills thousands, literally thousands, of villains (us humans) to save its mother (Nature). The planet has seen a massive environmental rehabilitation in the few months. With humans out of the way, Nature seems to have cleaned the air, rivers and cities all by herself. By the way, being on the villain's side, we didn't expect the hero to emerge from the raw uncooked meat of a bat, did we?
   Maybe that's where we lost the battle. We didn't pay sufficient amount of attention to the diseases coming from animals, known as Zoonotic Diseases. But after 4.26 million cases and 292 thousand deaths (as of 13 May 2020) and still counting globally, I think we all should. Three out of every four emerging infectious diseases come from animals. These zoonotic diseases can spread from both direct and indirect interaction. Direct interaction with animals includes ecotourism, bushmeat hunting, research and the movement of pets - which carries the risk of disease spread in both directions. In the case of the Coronavirus, this spread is unidirectional with your pets being the victim, as reported by CDC (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention). Indirect interaction includes contact with animal faeces and with patients suffering from the disease. Some species of E. coli and Salmonella spread through both of these methods.
   We had known about Zoonotic Diseases and the potential threats that they possess for ages, but COVID-19 has given us some life-affecting lessons related to infections from wildlife in the future and shown us our ground reality. It reminded us to give more respect and capital to the medical and research staff all over the world. Until now, scientists in India received a grant of $40 per capita. We would want this to go up. Furthermore, when this pandemic will end, we will have some points to consider. We will have to pay more attention to the health and hygiene of animals around us. Vaccinate them as much as possible. We will have to watch out for emerging potential disease-causing microbes. Conduct regular check-ups for pets. After all, we don't want them to die, as well.
   Look, every species is a part of nature. All have the right to live and sustain their identity. We all live on earth, the only planet which has life amongst the millions of planets discovered so far. Life is exotic to us. We have to be aware of the upcoming threats to your species. Let's not allow carelessness to affect our life too much. We would not want to die of negligence, would we?

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