中國披露獵殺熊貓並肢解售賣案

Given the popularity of giant pandas as attractions both in China and in zoos around the world, it is easy to forget that they still face mortal threats.

大熊貓在中國和世界各地的公園都備受歡迎，這讓人們很容易忘記它們仍然要面臨死亡的威脅。

That fact was made clear this week when forestry officers in southwestern China revealed that they had arrested two brothers for killing one of the endangered animals, then trying to sell its meat and fur. A third man was arrested for purchasing panda meat, along with seven others who were implicated in trafficking parts of the protected animal, according to reports in the Chinese state-run News media.

這一點在近日的一樁案件中表露無遺，中國西南部的林業官員本週透露，他們已將兩名殺害一隻大熊貓並試圖出售其肉和皮毛的兩兄弟逮捕歸案。中國官方新聞媒體稱，另有一人因爲購買這種瀕危動物的肉而被捕，還有七人因爲參與買賣受保護動物肢體器官而被捕。

The panda was reportedly killed in December by two brothers, surnamed Wang, in Yunnan Province. One of their sheep had been attacked and, with the help of a dog, they followed animal tracks leading from the sheep pen into woods, according to the China News Service.

據稱，這隻大熊貓於去年12月在雲南省被兩名王姓兄弟殺害。根據中國新聞網報道，在自家的羊被襲擊後，他們靠狗的幫助，循着熊貓的腳印，從羊圈一直追蹤到山林裏。

The brothers told State Forestry Administration officers that they shot an unidentified animal in a tree, and only after it was dead discovered it was an adult female panda, the China News Service reported. Afterward, the men butchered the animal and began to try to sell its parts. They offered nearly 80 pounds of meat and four paws for 4,800 renminbi, or about $785. They found buyers for the meat and other parts in Yunnan and neighboring Sichuan Province, forestry officers told the state media. Investigators discovered about 20 pounds of panda meat in a freezer in Yunnan, and also found the animal’s hide, several bones and its gallbladder.

中國新聞網報道稱，兄弟二人告訴國家林業局官員，他們開槍射擊了樹上的一隻不明動物，在這隻動物死後，才發現是隻雌性成年大熊貓。後來，二人肢解了這隻大熊貓，開始嘗試售賣。他們以4800元的價格賣掉了大約35公斤的大熊貓肉及4只大熊貓腳掌。調查人員對官方媒體說，他們在雲南和四川找到了熊貓肉及其他身體部分的買家。在雲南的一個冰櫃中發現了大約9公斤熊貓肉，還發現了熊貓的皮、一些骨頭和膽囊。

Although pandas are a national symbol of China and one of the country’s most beloved animals, they were nearly wiped out by habitat destruction and poaching until preservation efforts began in the second half of the 20th century. China’s most recent survey of wild pandas, which began in 2011, found 1,864 of the animals living in the wild, an increase of 16.8 percent from the previous survey, in 2003, the WWF said in February. In addition, more than 300 pandas live in captivity.

熊貓是中國的象徵、這個國家最受鍾愛的動物之一，但在20世紀下半葉開始採取保護措施前，熊貓曾因爲棲息地損毀和偷獵行爲而瀕臨滅絕。世界野生動物基金會(WWF)在今年2月表示，中國從2011年開始進行了最新的野生熊貓調查，結果發現有1864只熊貓生活在野外，比2003年的調查數據增加了16.8%。除此之外，還有300多隻圈養熊貓。

While the killing of the Yunnan panda is a blow to preservation efforts, it also reveals how the growing population is expanding its range. Although pandas were once found as far south as the northernmost parts of Vietnam and Myanmar, their modern range was thought to be restricted to a few mountainous areas of the Chinese provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu. The Yunnan poaching case led officials to invite experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the State Forestry Administration to investigate. They found signs of pandas living in northern Yunnan but said that further investigation was needed into whether they had spread from Sichuan or had been living undiscovered in Yunnan for generations, the China News Service reported.

雖然發生在雲南的捕殺熊貓事件對保護行動是一次打擊，但這也反映出數量不斷增加的熊貓的活動範圍在不斷擴大。雖然熊貓的分佈曾南及緬甸和越南最北部一帶，但人們認爲，熊貓在現代的活動範圍僅限於中國四川、陝西及甘肅省的少數山區。雲南的捕殺事件促使官員邀請中國科學院和國家林業局的專家進行調查。中國新聞社報道稱，他們在雲南北部發現了熊貓的蹤跡，但他們表示需要進一步調查它們是從四川遷徙過來的，還是在雲南隱祕地生活了幾個世代。