澳大利亞大規模捕殺野貓引發爭議

HONG KONG — Australian officials have responded to criticism from animal rights activists and celebrities, including the former actress Brigitte Bardot and the singer Morrissey, that a government plan to protect threatened species by killing millions of feral cats is unnecessarily cruel.

香港——一羣動物權益維護者和名人，包括息影演員碧姬·芭鐸(Brigitte Bardot)和歌手莫里西(Morrissey)，批評澳大利亞政府打算捕殺數百萬只野貓以保護瀕危物種的計劃是不必要的殘忍之舉。就此，澳大利亞官員做出了迴應。

Gregory Andrews, Australia’s threatened species commissioner, has written open letters to Ms. Bardot and Morrissey saying that feral cats prey on more than 100 of the country’s threatened species and that they were a “major contributor” to the extinction of at least 27 mammal species in the country over the past 200 years.

澳大利亞瀕危物種委員格雷戈裏·安德魯斯(Gregory Andrews)給芭鐸和莫里西寫了公開信，文中表示，野貓會捕食澳大利亞的逾百個瀕危物種，在過去200年裏，它是導致澳大利亞起碼27種哺乳動物滅絕的“元兇”。

He called some of the extinct species, such as the lesser bilby, desert bandicoot, crescent nailtail wallaby and big-eared hopping, “delightful creatures, rich in importance in Australian Indigenous culture, and formerly playing important roles in the ecology of our country. We don’t want to lose any more species like these.”

他把小兔耳袋狸、荒漠袋狸、新月甲尾袋鼠和大耳彈鼠等已滅絕的物種稱作“可愛的生物”，指它們“在澳大利亞土著文化中極爲重要，以前在我國的生態環境裏也扮演了重要的角色。我們不希望再失去這樣的物種。”

The Australian Department of the Environment says that feral cats are the biggest threat to the country’s mammals, ahead of foxes and habitat loss. The government plan would use poison and traps to kill the cats.

澳大利亞環境保護部稱，野貓是該國哺乳動物物種的最大威脅，比狐狸和失去生境造成的威脅更大。政府計劃用毒藥和誘捕裝置來殺野貓。

In announcing the plan in July, Greg Hunt, the environment minister, said that he wanted to see two million feral cats culled by 2020. Australia has an estimated 20 million feral cats, which are an invasive species brought by European settlers. Calls to exterminate the cats have been floated before, including one in the 1990s that called for killing all feral cats by 2020.

環境保護部長格雷格·亨特(Greg Hunt)在今年7月公佈這項計劃時說，希望到了2020年的時候捕殺的野貓數量可達兩百萬。澳大利亞目前估算存在兩千萬隻野貓，是以前歐洲移民引入的入侵物種。根除野貓的倡議以前就一直有，其中包括90年代的那次呼籲在2020年前殺光所有野貓的提議。

When the current plan was announced, Ms. Bardot, 81, the French actress well known for her work in animal rights campaigns, wrote that the plan was “a scandal, a shame.”

81歲的法國演員芭鐸以熱心投入動物權益保護活動而聞名。當政府宣佈目前的計劃時，她撰文指計劃是“醜聞和恥辱”。

“This animal genocide is inhuman and ridiculous,” she said, arguing that Australia should neuter feral cats rather than kill them.

“這樣的動物大屠殺是非人道和荒謬的，”她說道，並認爲澳大利亞政府應該替野貓絕育，而不是捕殺。

Morrissey, an English pop star, called the Australian government “a committee of sheep-farmers who have zero concerns about animal welfare or animal respect.” He said the cats that would be killed are “2 million smaller versions of Cecil The Lion,” a reference to the controversial killing of a lion in Zimbabwe in July by an American dentist.

英國流行歌星莫里西稱澳大利亞政府爲“毫不關心動物福祉或尊嚴的牧羊農戶組成的委員會”。7月份時，津巴布韋的明星獅子西塞爾被一名美國牙醫獵殺，引起爭議。莫里西說，被捕殺的野貓將會是“兩百萬只小型版的西塞爾”。

Mr. Andrews’s response did not say why the Australian authorities were choosing to kill the cats over neutering them. He did say the government’s plan was supported by “the overwhelming majority of key environmental nongovernment organizations,” including the World Wildlife Fund and the Nature Conservancy.

在迴應中，安德魯斯沒有提及澳大利亞政府爲何選擇捕殺野貓而非替其絕育。但他說，“絕大多數重要的非政府環保組織”支持政府的計劃，其中包括世界自然基金會(World Wildlife Fund)和大自然保護協會(Nature Conservancy)。

“The greatest impact of feral cats occurs across Australia’s vast deserts, rugged mountains, forests and savannas: remote and often inaccessible landscapes that are home to our native wildlife,” he added.

他還說：“野貓對澳大利亞廣袤的沙漠、崎嶇的山脈、森林和熱帶草原都有巨大的影響。而這些人類通常難以抵達的偏遠地方正是本土野生動物的棲息地。”