Millions of wild animals are being legally imported into the UK from emerging disease hotspots, it has emerged, prompting a leading animal welfare charity to warn that the practice is risking another public health crisis.
Animals including African pygmy hedgehogs, snakes, lizards and tortoises are transported to the UK to be sold as exotic pets from Africa, Latin America and Asia in their hundreds of thousands, according to a new study from World Animal Protection.
While legal, the practice is condemned by campaigners as cruel, and the charity has warned that it
