When humans destroy natural ecosystems, the animals who survive and thrive are more likely to cause pandemics like COVID-19, according to new analysis reported in Nature .
The study, which analysed around 6,800 ecological communities on six continents, found that when wild land is wiped out for human uses like farming and housing, larger animals are usually eradicated.
This leaves bats, rats, and other small creatures which more commonly carry zoonotic diseases - that is, ones that can be transferred to humans and lead to pandemics.