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亚洲缺虎骨求狮骨 保育者急救南非狮

A new ad campaign is underway in South Africa to stop the country’s lion bone trade. Lions are killed so their bones can be used to make fake aphrodisiacs and traditional medicines. The demand for the bones is growing in Asia as tigers become scarce.

随着老虎数量的减少，信奉虎骨的亚洲人把目光对准了非洲的狮子。很多人相信虎骨有“性奋”的功效，还是传统药材。如今，虎骨缺稀了，狮骨成了替代品。为了制止南非的狮骨贸易，保育人士在南非展开了一场新的广告运动。

The campaign’s been launched by Avaaz – a group describing itself as a global web movement, whose name means “voice” in several languages.

这场广告宣传运动由Avaaz组织发起，该组织自称是全球网络组织。Avaaz在好几种语言里都是“声音”的意思。

The ads can be found in Johannesburg Airport’s International Arrival Hall, the inflight magazine aboard South African Airways¹ and on Google. They’re aimed at stopping what’s known as canned hunting. Lions are born and raised on game farms for the sole purpose of being hunted. Some reports say hunters pay as much as $20,000 to do so.

在约翰内斯堡国际机场的抵达大厅、南非航空公司班机的杂志上以及谷歌网站上，都可以看到这些保护狮子的广告。运动的宗旨是制止所谓“人工放养打猎”(canned hunting)。这些狮子在繁殖场内出生长大，活着的唯一目的就是供人猎杀。有些报道说，猎手为此要付2万美元的高价。

“South Africa’s lions are being decimated. Trade is exploding right now and experts fear that even wild lions, with only 20,000 left in Africa, are starting to come under poaching attack. This horrific trade could harm South Africa’s tourist industry and its reputation as a wildlife haven² unless President Zuma steps in right now to ban the lion bone trade,” said Jamie Choi, Avaaz’s Campaign Director.

“南非的狮子正被斩尽杀绝。”Avaaz组织的广告运动主任杰米?崔(Jamie Choi)说，“狮骨贸易目前爆炸性增长，专家们担心，即使是非洲仅存的两万头野生狮子也开始受到偷猎袭击。除非祖马总统出面制止狮骨贸易，这种可怕的贸易有可能伤害南非的旅游业和南非做为野生动物保护地的声誉。”

Tiger and rhino³ populations have been hit very hard by poachers seeking to sell bones, horns and hides to the Asian market. Choi said lions are next in line.

由于偷猎，老虎和犀牛数量锐减。偷猎者向亚洲市场出售老虎和犀牛的骨头、犄角和皮革。杰米?崔说，接下来遭殃的是狮子。

“Lion bones are currently used as substitutes for tiger bones, and they’re used to make products like tiger bone wine, which is very popular among wealthy consumers in countries like Vietnam and China. These products are wrongfully believed to be good for arthritis⁴ and rheumatism⁵, but also a lot of people carry the superstitious⁶ belief that it boosts the sex drive,” she said.

“现在狮骨被用做虎骨的替代品，制造虎骨酒等产品。这些在越南和中国等有钱的消费者中间很热门。”杰米?崔说：“他们错误地相信，这些东西能够治疗关节炎和风湿，还有人迷信狮虎的骨头能够壮阳助性。”

In May, South Africa’s Environment Minister Edna Molewa rejected calls to ban the lion bone trade and said she did not believe it put lions in the wild in danger.

5月间，南非环境部长埃德娜?莫莱瓦拒绝接受禁止狮骨交易的呼吁。她说，她不认为这威胁到野生狮子。

Choi said the new ads are phase two of a global campaign.

杰米?崔说，他们推出的新广告是全球运动的第二阶段。

“[On] June 27, we launched a global petition campaign urging President Zuma to stop this lion bone trade. And within one month’s time we had over 700,000 people around the world sign this petition. However, we did not receive a response from the environment minister or President Zuma’s office. So we decided⁷ to launch a second phase of this campaign to shed light [on] what is happening to the lions of South Africa,” he said.

她说：“6月27日，我们发起了全球请愿运动，敦促祖马总统制止狮骨贸易。一个月之内就有来自世界各地的70多万人在请愿书上签名。不过，我们还没有从环境部长或总统办公室那里得到回应。因此，我们决定发起运动的第二阶段，让人们聚焦南非狮子目前的遭遇。”

Not everyone views the issue as cut and dried. Researchers at the University of Pretoria and Sweet Briar College in the U.S. state of Virginia looked into the controversy⁸. Their study said, “The captive-bred lion hunting industry in South Africa has grown rapidly, while the number of wild lions hunted in other African countries has declined.”

并不是每个人都认为这个问题是黑白分明的。南非比勒陀利亚大学和美国维吉尼亚州斯威特布莱学院的研究人员考察了狮骨贸易争议。他们的研究指出：“在南非，捕猎人工放养-繁殖的狮子的产业发展迅速，与此同时，在非洲其它国家，被捕猎的野生狮子的数量有所减少。”

They also said that “If captive-bred lion hunting were ever prohibited, a transfer of demand to wild lion hunts could lead to elevated off-takes with negative impacts on wild populations.”

他们还写道：“如果禁止捕猎人工放养-繁殖的狮子，需求会转向捕猎野生狮子，有可能增加对野生狮子的负面冲击。”

The researchers added, “If there are any future efforts to control the captive-bred lion hunting industry, decision-makers should take cognizance of the potential for increased demand for wild lion trophies⁹ and implement¹⁰ steps to prevent excessive harvests. Such steps should include tight restrictions¹¹ on sustainable harvests, age restrictions on lion trophies, and in South Africa, consideration of implementing¹² buffer¹³ zones around parks in which lion hunting is prohibited or strictly¹⁴ controlled.”

研究人员还说，“如果决策者今后采取任何控制捕猎人工放养-繁殖的狮子的产业，都必须认识到此举可能会增加捕猎野生狮子的需求，并采取步骤防止过度捕杀。这类步骤应当包括对可持续捕猎实行严格限制，对猎取狮子实行年龄限制，并在南非考虑在公园周围设立缓冲区，禁止或者严格限制捕狮。”

The researchers said, however, that further research is “urgently required” to identify potential risks for lion conservation.

不过，这些研究人员说，“迫切需要”进一步的研究来确定狮子保育面临的潜在风险。