It is now illegal to eat and hunt wild animals in Wuhan, China, after wet markets got blamed to have caused the global coronavirus crisis.

The government of Hubei Province, China, announced the new policy on May 13, 2020.

The new policy prohibits hunting and consumption of all wild land animals, which includes protected and endangered wild aquatic species.

The ban is going to stay in the province for the next 5 years.

Citizens of Wuhan, China, are no prohibited from encouraging others to eat wild animals or even get involved in trading of the wild land animals and all protected and endangered aquatic species.

Not only are that, but publishing or displaying advertisements that are related to eating wild animals also prohibited.

It is believed that the novel coronavirus came from an animal that was sold at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in December 2019.

Wet markets in the country are known for selling and trading animals such as bats, snakes, deer, turtles, porcupines, and many more.

They are known as medicine in China.

In February, the central government of Canada banned all trade and consumption of wildlife without specifying if farm-raised animals were included.

The new legislation of Wuhan provides a more refined version of the policy that was introduced by the central government of China in February this year.

Farmers in Wuhan, China, will be offered cash to stop breeding exotic animals through local government buyout schemes and other forms of financial aid.

Hunting wild animals have also been made illegal in Wuhan after the government declared the city as a wildlife sanctuary.

But, yes, there is a but for this one.

There is an exception for the new law when it comes to scientific research population regulation, monitoring of epidemic cases, and other special instances.