和動物合影看似無傷大雅 實際上危害無窮

Celebrities wield considerable influence on cultural trends, like it or not. When Oprah does a 21-day vegan cleanse, it makes headlines. When Amal Clooney rocks a Stella McCartney dress, sales soar. However, one trend that seems innocuous–but is actually damaging–is the pressure on stars to have their photos taken with exotic animals used as “props.”

不管你喜不喜歡，明星都對文化潮流產生了巨大影響。當奧普拉進行21天素食淨化時，這件事成了新聞頭條。當喬治•克魯尼的妻子艾莫•克魯尼身穿斯特拉•麥卡特尼緊身連衣裙搖曳現身時，這款裙子銷量猛增。然而有一種潮流看似無傷大雅，但實際上危害無窮，那就是明星把動物當“道具”來拍攝照片。

Celebrities who are asked to pose with wild animals for a magazine spread or who do so while on vacation invariably have good intentions and even love animals, so they are easy marks for the often mercenary amusement parks and sham “animal orphanages.”

那些應邀爲雜誌拍攝與野生動物同框出鏡的明星，以及那些在度假中和野生動物合影的明星，無不出於好心，他們甚至喜愛動物，所以很容易被唯利是圖的遊樂場或騙人的“動物孤兒院”所利用。

These business people drool at the thought of posting or retweeting pictures of a star cuddling with a tiger cub or captive orca.

這些商人一想到能貼出或轉發明星懷抱虎仔或是擁抱被抓的逆戟鯨的照片，就會興奮不已。

Kind people are naturally drawn to places that claim to offer exotic animals refuge and are eager to see elephants paint, to cuddle with bear cubs or to swim with dolphins, but expose after expose has revealed that many of these outfits are breeders, dealers or exhibitors that are exploiting Hollywood’s goodwill and generosity.

善良的人們自然會被這些聲稱提供珍稀動物庇護的地方所吸引，渴望看到大象作畫，渴望懷抱熊仔或是與海豚共遊，但一次次曝光事件說明，這些機構大部分是飼養員、經銷商或展商在利用好萊塢明星的善意和慷慨。

At the recently shuttered Tiger Temple in Thailand, 40 dead cubs were found in a freezer, secretly slaughtered to make tiger wine and other folk remedies for sale on the black market. But it isn’t just the “tiger temples” that are being busted. The number of tourist traps that have tacked the word “sanctuary” or “rescue” onto their names has skyrocketed in recent years.

在最近被關閉的泰國虎廟中，人們在冰箱裏發現了40具虎仔屍體。它們被偷偷殺掉，用來製作虎酒和其他偏方，然後拿到黑市上出售。但被曝光的不只是“虎廟”這一處。近年來，這類打着“避難所”或“救護所”旗號欺騙遊客的地方數量猛增。

Many exhibitors continually breed the animals just so they’ll have a constant supply of young animals in order to sell photo ops to people like Beyonce and Jay Z. Of course, the babies are adorable but they grow fast, and within a few weeks they are too big to handle. They’ll spend the rest of their lives, sometimes decades, in cramped and barren cages–or even be killed.

許多展覽者一直不斷地讓動物繁殖，就是爲了讓動物幼崽能夠源源不斷地得到補充，以此能向碧昂斯和Jay Z這樣的名人來售賣拍照的機會。當然了，這些動物寶寶都很可愛，但是它們長得太快了，甚至在幾周之內就大得難以被人控制。這些動物將會在擁擠而無趣的籠子裏度過餘生，這有時會是幾十年抑或它們會被殺掉。

In some Asian countries, elephants are kept chained in trekking camps. A few camps are working to help elephants in trouble, but the vast majority are not, and training methods are barbaric and cruel. As soon as the cameras are gone after someone like Prince William poses with an elephant, the chains go back on and the bullhooks come out.

在一些亞洲國家，大象被栓在遠足營裏。有一些營地是在幫助遭遇不幸的大象，但其他大部分都不是，而且營地裏訓練大象的方法非常野蠻和殘忍。當像威廉王子這樣的人物擺好姿勢與大象合完影后，鏡頭一走開，大象就會被重新戴上鐐銬，繼續遭受恐怖訓練棒的折磨。

Fans, tell the stars: Stay away from exotic-animal photo ops, and the animals will be grateful. Of course, you don’t have to be famous to make a difference. Whether right here at home or at an exotic locale abroad, every one of us must fight the temptation to pose with a panther or cuddle a cub.

粉絲們，請告訴你們的偶像：遠離與珍稀動物拍照的機會，那些動物一定會深表感激。當然，不是隻有名人才需要做出改變。無論是在國內，還是在海外異域，我們每個人都必須抵住誘惑，拒絕與美洲豹合影或是懷抱動物的幼崽。