Wildlife and the Next Pandemic | Dina Fine Maron | #24

Our guest in this episode is Dina Fine Maron, an Investigative Reporter for National Geographic covering Wildlife Crime. Dina was previously a health editor for Scientific American magazine and holds a master's degree in public health. In short, she knows a lot about wildlife trafficking and public health, and those appear to be two important factors in the origin of COVID.

We discuss the connection between healthcare and wildlife crime, how COVID-19 could have made its way from bats into humans, whether there’s any evidence coronavirus originated in a lab, and what China is doing to prevent future pandemics.

Watch the video version here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ea61kCDtqw

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**DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE**

National Geographic’s Wildlife Watch

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/pages/topic/wildlife-watch

What the mink COVID-19 outbreaks taught us about pandemics

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/what-the-mink-coronavirus-pandemic-has-taught-us

China’s exotic farms may be a missing link behind the pandemic’s leap to people

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/chinas-exotic-wildlife-farms-may-be-a-possible-missing-link-behind-the-pandemics-leap-to-people

'Wet markets' likely launched the coronavirus. Here's what you need to know.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/coronavirus-linked-to-chinese-wet-markets

**ABOUT THE HOST**

Eric R Olson is a filmmaker, video producer, and podcast host with a passion for science and the natural world. He was formerly Scientific American's full-time video producer and lead digital producer of the long-running PBS television show NATURE. Eric currently runs his own company, FLOWSPARK MEDIA LLC, which is the producer and publisher of this podcast.

Follow him on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ericrolson

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