On June 13 (local time), Sky News Australia reported that new evidence has emerged that proves the Wuhan Institute of Virology kept live bats in cases. The new footage shows the inside of the facility where the bats were kept. The video thus disapproves the denial of the World Health Organization investigators who had kept calling the theory of live bats in the lab a “conspiracy”.

Journalist Sharri Markson from the Australian has shared the information.

In May 2017, a 10-minute official Chinese Academy of Sciences video titled “The construction and research team of Wuhan P4 laboratory of Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences” was released to mark the launch of the new BL4 lab. It discussed the security precautions that had been taken in case accidents happen. It also talked about the clashes with the French government during the construction of the said lab.

What’s in the video

The video featured interviews with the lab’s leading scientists and showed bats being held in a cage inside the lab. In one scene, a scientist was seen feeding a worm to a bat. Notably, the WHO investigation report about the origin of the pandemic did not mention that the bats were being kept inside the Wuhan Institute of Virology. It stated, “The animal room in the P4 facility can handle a variety of species, including primate work with SARS-CoV-2.”

The video, as suggested by The Australian’s report, states that they faced difficulties behind-the-scene during the construction of the lab. It was initially a joint venture of the French and Chinese governments, but it did not pan out that way. It said, “Our collaboration with France on this project went through more than a decade of intense clashes resulting from our different cultural backgrounds and understandings.”

After the lab was completed, French scientist and officials were removed from the lab that sparked concerns among French intelligence over the type of biological research China may do in such labs. Shi Zhengli, the Bat Lady, was also featured in the video. A bat was seen hanging off her hat. At the same time, the narrator said, “Over more than a decade, Shi Zhengli’s research team has collected more than 15,000 bat samples in China and many countries of Africa, searching for the origins of SARS, as well as isolating and characterising many new viruses.”

The US had raised concerns

In the US government’s investigation of the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic, the officials questioned how a naturally occurring virus from bats that are found in the Yunnan Province in southwestern China could possibly travel to Wuhan without leaving any traces. Yunnan is a 20-hour drive away from Wuhan. The revelation that bats were kept in the lab is important as it may fill the missing gap of the origin of the virus and its spread. A possibility arises that a lab employee might have got infected from a diseased bat kept in cages at the lab.

Calls for closing Chinese wet markets

When the pandemic first hit the world, the world leaders had called for the closure of the Chinese wet markets, which was believed to be selling bat meat. Notably, bats were not sold at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale market but were kept at the BL2 and BL3 labs at Wuhan lab. At that time, zoologist Peter Daszak, a member of the WHO investigating team, called the theory a “conspiracy”.

In a tweet in December, he said, “No BATS were sent to Wuhan lab for genetic analysis of viruses collected in the field. That’s not how this science works. We collect bat samples, send them to the lab. “We RELEASE bats where we catch them.”

Daszak’s organisation EcoHealth Alliance had funded coronavirus research in the WIV, as revealed in recent reports.

In another tweet, Dr Daszak said, “This is a widely circulated conspiracy theory. This piece describes work I’m the lead on and labs I’ve collaborated with for 15 years. They DO NOT have live or dead bats in them. There is no evidence anywhere that this happened. It’s an error I hope will be corrected.”

Interestingly, he changed his stand this month and admitted Wuhan lab might have kept bats inside its premises. He also admitted that the WHO team did not ask the Wuhan lab about it. He said, “We didn’t ask them if they had bats. I wouldn’t be surprised if, like many other virology labs, they were trying to set up a bat colony. I know it’s happening in labs here and in other countries.”

The video was discovered by the researchers, identified as DRASTIC, investigating the origin of the pandemic. Jesse, the digital archivist of the group, stumbled upon the video. The coordinator of the group codenamed Billy Bostickson had talked about the evidence that shows bats were kept in Wuhan lab.