Don't blame bats for COVID.

People raise the risk of transmission between species when they encroach on bats’ habitats or harvest bats for medicine or food. In particular, humans pack live bats into unsanitary conditions with other wild species that may serve as intermediate hosts. This is what happened at the Wuhan wet market where many experts believe COVID-19 emerged. Overharvesting, persecution and habitat loss are the greatest threats that bats face, but they also suffer from their own novel diseases.