2025年05月03日 星期六
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中国中医药组织号召杜绝虎骨入药 |
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Last Friday, an international conference of traditional Chinese medicine providers disavowed the use of tiger bones in treatment, a move hailed by conservation groups like the WWF and Traffic, which combat poaching. 上周五举行的一个中医药国际会议宣布反对虎骨入药。该举动受到抵制非法狩猎的生态保护组织如世界自然基金会（WWF）和野生物贸易研究委员会（TRAFFIC）的欢迎。 That's one step forward for the endangered species at a time when the news has been relentlessly grim. 在中国传出有关老虎境遇的悲惨新闻之时，此举对于保护老虎这一濒危物种而言，无疑是一大进步。 Now take two steps back. 现在做一个新闻回放。 Even as the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies said that tiger bones don't have real health benefits, new grisly revelations were coming from a zoo in frigid northeastern China that had turned into a morgue as many of its animals starved to death. 即便世界中医药学会联合会（World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies ）宣布虎骨并无实际疗效，却传来新的恐怖消息：地处中国严寒之地的东北，一个动物园成为动物的坟墓，众多动物饥饿而死。 The zoo in the city of Shenyang said it had frozen the carcasses of the 11 rare Siberian tigers which had died there over the past three months, state media reported. But news reports said tiger bones were being used for medicinal wine. 据官方媒体报道，位于沈阳的这家动物园称，已冰冻了11只稀有西伯利亚虎的尸体，这11只老虎是在过去三个月中死去的。但有消息称虎骨已被用于制作药酒。 The tigers weren't the only ones suffering there. In the last 10 years, the zoo's animal population dropped by half from around 1,000 animals to about 500. 这家动物园内并非只有老虎遭此不幸。过去十年中，动物园内原有的约1000只动物仅剩下大概500只。 Previous reports said the zoo couldn't afford to pay for food, and had tried to auction itself off for some time. The local government owned a 15% stake in the zoo, with the rest held by private investors, according to Xinhua. It's unclear why the city didn't step in earlier to rescue the dying animals. 之前有报道称，这家动物园无力承担动物喂养费，一度还寻求将动物园拍卖。据新华社报道，当地政府拥有动物园15%的股份，其余由私人持有。尚不清楚为何市政府没早点采取措施拯救这些濒于死亡的动物。 There are barely a few dozen wild tigers left in China, and probably less than 3,000 left in the world. But China has around 5,000 tigers that are being raised in tiger farms. Some of the farms were set up before China banned the use of tiger bones and have tried to rebrand themselves as safari parks, or say they want to eventually release some tigers into the wild. Animal conservationists argue they should be closed down, too. 中国现存的野生虎已为数不多，不到几十只，全球总共可能也不超过3,000只。不过中国有约5,000只人工喂养虎。部分老虎喂养基地是在中国禁止虎骨药用之前建立的，现在它们试图自我标榜为野生动物园，或者说，这些老虎喂养基地想最终将部分老虎放养野外。动物保护主义者认为，这些喂养基地也应被关闭。 These farms are also keeping their dead tigers on ice, partly to keep them from falling into the black market--or, some critics say, as a stockpile in case the government legalizes sales again. 这些喂养基地也将死虎尸体冰冻保存，部分原因是防其落入黑市，也可能如批评人士指出的那样，囤积死虎以待政府再度将出售老虎合法化。 For anyone who's traveled in China, zoos are rarely pretty. A decade ago, visitors to a Beijing zoo could watch as onlookers threw junk food into a bear's cement lair. In Sichuan province, tourists could pay to pose next to a panda in its cage where they could even throw a chummy arm around it. 对每个在中国旅行的人来说，动物园大多都不可爱。十年前，去北京动物园参观，可见游人向熊洞穴内扔垃圾食物。在四川，游客付费即可站在关在笼子里的熊猫旁照相，还可把手搭在熊猫身上。 There is one possible upside to the recent grim news: The relentless publicity is raising awareness and there are calls for reform. 近期这则坏消息也可能带来一个乐观结果，即严正的舆论正在唤醒公众意识，改革的呼声正在出现。 |
