孟加拉虎的最大威胁——中药材用途

 　　Chinese Health Nuts 'Biggest Threat' To India's Bengal Tigers

　　Traditional medicine in China has Indian poachers slaughtering 1 Bengal Tigers in greater numbers and shipping 2 their body parts up north for cold hard cash.
　　中药材方面的巨大需求使得印度盗猎者大规模捕杀孟加拉虎，并将可入药部分运输至中国换取真金白银。
　　Although the tiger population in India is actually on the rise, there is an alarming increase in poaching of the country’s big cats.  Recent data released last week show that India lost approximately 48 tigers last year to poachers, up from 32 in 2012, according to the Wildlife Protection Society of India.
　　尽管印度孟加拉老虎的数量实际上在增加，但是盗猎现象的增多应该引起警觉。日前公布的最新数据显示，据印度野生动物保护协会（Wildlife Protection Society of India）称，2013年印度大约有48只老虎被盗猎，高出2012年的32只。
　　“Until the demand is addressed and stopped, tigers will go on being killed by poachers,” Belinda Wright, head of the Wildlife Protection Society, told the South China Morning Post on Monday. “This issue of demand is something that can only be tackled by China,” Wright reportedly said.
　　“除非抑制并杜绝这种需求，否则，老虎将继续死于盗猎者之手，”印度野生动物保护协会会长贝琳达·莱特（Belinda Wright）在周一接受《南华早报》的采访时说道。据报道莱特说，“需求这一问题只能由中国解决。”
　　Interpol says the trade in illegal wildlife products is worth some $12 billion a year. India is home to the world’s largest tiger population, making it a major source market for the illegal wild animal trade. Most of the demand for wildlife comes from outside of India, with China being the go-to spot for tiger body parts such as their paws.  Despite increased awareness 3 and vigilance, The Society’s Wildlife Crime Database shows a continuing increase in wildlife poaching and smuggling 4 in India.
　　国际刑警组织（Interpol）表示，非法野生动物产品的交易一年可高达约120亿美元。印度是世界上老虎数量最多的国家，因此，成为了非法野生动物交易一个主要的货源市场。对野生动物的需求大多来自印度以外，中国是老虎身体部位（如虎爪）的主要交易市场。虽然野生动物保护意识和警惕性都有所提高，但该协会的野生动物犯罪数据库（Wildlife Crime Database）显示：在印度，猎杀和走私野生动物的数量持续增加。
　　“The prices the poachers are fetching are so high that, despite India’s attempts to enforce the law, they are prepared to take risks. They are ruthless and sophisticated. We have to reduce demand,” Tito Joseph, the Society’s program manager, told the South China Morning Post.
　　“尽管印度试图加强执法行动，由于市价高企，他们仍准备铤而走险。他们手段残忍而且精明老练。我们必须从源头抓起，减少需求。”该协会项目经理蒂托·约瑟夫（Tito Joseph）在接受《南华早报》记者采访时说。
　　The wildlife authorities appear to be in a losing battle with the poachers who are organised and well-equipped. They can easily pay off forest guards or policemen if they get into trouble, the South China Morning Post reported.
　　在与装备精良的有组织偷猎者的战斗中，野生动物当局似乎已经败下阵来。据《南华早报》报道，他们可以很容易地通过贿赂森林警卫或者警察来脱身。
　　According to the World Wildlife Fund, the Bengal tiger is considered an endangered species.
　　据世界野生动物基金会（World Wildlife Fund，简称WWF）称，孟加拉虎是一个濒危物种。
　　Before the international ban on tiger trade in 1993, tiger populations were being decimated by poachers. However, even with the ban, the illegal demand for tigers as status symbols, decorative 5 items, and Chinese medicinal “cures” has increased demand for tigers, leading to what the WWF calls a  ”new poaching crisis” in India. Poaching driven by the international illegal wildlife trade is the largest immediate 6 threat to the remaining tiger population, the WWF says.
　　在1993年颁布老虎贸易的国际禁令之前，老虎因盗猎而数量锐减。不过，即使颁布了这一禁令，对老虎的非法需求——作为地位的象征、装饰用品以及中医“药方”——已使得老虎日益奇货可居，继而导致了WWF所谓的印度“新偷猎危机”。WWF表示，受国际非法野生动物交易驱使的盗猎行为对剩余老虎构成了最大的直接威胁。
　　India has roughly 1,706 tigers, according to the last official estimate taken in 2011. The number was 1,411 in the 2008 census 7. Work on the next tiger census — the world’s biggest — started in December.  Research spans 500,000 square kilometers of subtropical forest where 90% of India’s tigers live. Over 2,000 experts work with forest officials to count the tiger population.
　　根据最新的2011年官方数据估计，印度约有1,706只老虎。这一数据要比2008年统计的1,411只有所增加。印度在去年12月份开始了又一次全球最大规模的老虎数量普查。研究范围覆盖了该国90%的老虎栖息地——50万平方公里的亚热带森林。超过2,000位专家和森林官员将对老虎的数量进行统计。
　　Worldwide, the WWF estimates there to be around 2,500 Bengal tigers.
　　据世界野生动物基金会估计，全球共有2,500只孟加拉虎。
　　Tiger parts are sold at Chinese medicine shops in China, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Chinatowns in North America and Europe. According to Eugene Linden of Time magazine: “tiger bone remedies” are “so ingrained in these cultures that it is not certain their government could control the trade.”
　　老虎的身体部位被销往中国、韩国、香港、新加坡、北美和欧洲唐人街的各大中药店。据《时代杂志》（Time）的尤金·林登（Eugene Linden）称，在这些文化中对“虎骨药材”的推崇根深蒂固，因此，还不确定其政府能否发挥作用。