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在巴西的非法野生動物交易是動物界的主要威脅之一,尤其是鳥類,主要用來供應寵物市場。每個月都有上千隻動物從大自然中被獵捕,然後被運到遠離原生地的地區,主要被販賣到里約熱內盧和聖保羅。
據估計,在巴西每年將近有三千八百萬隻野生動物從大自然中被獵捕,並進行非法交易,金額高達20億美金。警方將這些裝有野生動物的大貨櫃攔截下來,牠們原本是要用來供應寵物市場的。警方也會直接從這些人家中帶回走私動物,這就是我們每個月都會面對的狀況,上千隻被沒收的動物。
為了讓我們更了解這些動物身上發生的事,我們將跟著Brad看下去。在許多人眼裡,動物被沒收後,他們會說,「太好了,正義得以伸張!英雄抵達,將這些被虐待的可愛動物從邪惡的盜賣者手中帶走,從此動物們過著幸福快樂的生活。」但真是如此嗎?事實上並非如此,這反而是許多我們面臨的問題的開端,因為我們必須找出處置這所有動物的方法。
在巴西當地,動物通常會先被送到政府設的醫療機構,在這裡,大部分動物所面臨的狀況,就跟在盜賣者手中一樣糟糕。這些機構在2002年接收了四萬五千隻動物,其中三萬七千隻是鳥類,警方估計,我們所救獲的數量只是被盜賣的百分之五,其中有些較幸運的動物,像是Brad,獲救之後被送到較好的療養機構,牠們在這些地方被細心看護,人們訓練牠們飛行,牠們也學習如何辨認能在大自然中取得的食物,牠們還能與其他同類進行社交行為。(笑聲)
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以下為系統擷取之英文原文
Illegal wildlife trade in Brazil is one of the major threats against our fauna, especially birds, and mainly to supply the pet market with thousands of animals taken from nature every month, and transported far from their origins, to be sold mainly in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
It is estimated that all kinds of illegal wildlife trade in Brazil withdraw from nature almost 38 million animals every year, a business worth almost two billion dollars. The police intercepts these huge cargos with live animals, intended to supply the pet market or they seize the animals directly from the people's houses. And this is how we end up, every month, with thousands of seized animals.
And for us to understand what happens with them, we're going to follow Brad. In the eyes of many people, after the animals are seized, they say, "Yay, justice has been served. The good guys arrived, took the cute mistreated animals from the hands of the evil traffickers, and everyone lived happily ever after." But did they? Actually no. And this is where many of our problems begin. Because we have to figure out what to do with all these animals.
In Brazil, they are usually first sent to governmental triage facilities, in which most of the cases the conditions are as bad as with the traffickers. In 2002 these centers recieved 45,000 animals, of which, 37,000 were birds. And the police estimates that we seize five percent of what's being trafficked. Some lucky ones, and among them, Brad, go to serious rehabilitation centers after that. And in these places they are cared for. They train their flying. They learn how to recognize the food they will find in nature. And they are able to socialize with others from the same species.
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但接下來呢?巴西鳥類協會-我們現在只針對鳥類討論-聲稱我們對於這些大自然中的物種瞭解太少,因此,若將這些動物野放,是相當冒險的,不論是對被野放的動物或大自然中原有的族群來說。他們也聲稱,我們耗費太多資源在這些鳥類的療養復健上,基於這個論點,他們建議將所有救回、但未瀕臨絕種的鳥類安樂死。然而,這意味著要殺掉26,267隻鳥,這單單只是2006年在聖保羅的數目。
但有些研究者,包含我在內,一些非政府組織,還有來自巴西政府的一些人,都深信還有不同的選擇。我們認為,當這些動物健康及行為上的標準,符合其推斷來源地,以及我們對該物種野生族群所知的情況時,那麼,就技術層面來說,負責任的野放是有可能的。不僅是為了動物個體的生存,也是為了該物種和生態系統的保育,因為我們將歸還基因到這些野生族群中,這對牠們來說可能很重要,尤其當面臨環境變遷時。我們可能也同時保留了潛在的種子傳播者、狩獵者或獵物等等。
這些都是由我們所野放的動物,在上方,你可以看見烏龜正享受著自由。(笑聲)在中間,這傢伙在野放幾個星期後就築了一個巢。下方則是我個人的最愛,那邊那隻雄鳥,在野放後四個小時,已經跟一隻野生雌鳥在一起。這不是新鮮事,世界各地都有人正做著這樣的事情,但在巴西這仍極具爭議性。我們相信我們已做到了負責任的野放,我們記錄到被野放的鳥類在野外成功交配,並產下幼鳥,所以這些基因確實回歸到原有的族群中。
然而,這仍是極少數的案例,我們在這方面的知識仍極為不足,所以,讓我們更進一步地研究,共同揭開這方面的知識,讓我們竭盡所能地努力,我將我的事業貢獻在這方面,我今天在這裡呼籲你們當中的每一個人去做任何你能力所及的事,告訴你的鄰居,教導你的小孩,確認你的寵物是來自合法的飼育者,我們需要行動,現在馬上行動,否則將只剩下布偶成為這些物種的代表。謝謝。(掌聲)
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But then what? The Brazil Ornithological Society, so now we're talking only birds, claims that we have too little knowledge about the species in nature. Therefore it would be too risky to release these animals, both for the released and for the natural populations. They also claim that we spend too many resources in their rehabilitation. Following this argument, they suggest that all the birds seized from non-threatened species should be euthanized. However, this would mean having killed 26,267 birds, only in the state of São Paulo, only in 2006.
But, some researchers, myself included, some NGOs and some people from the Brazilian government believe there is an alternative. we think that if and when the animals meet certain criteria concerning their health, behavior, inferred origin, and whatever we know about the natural populations, then technically responsible releases are possible. Both for the well-being of the individual, and for the conservation of the species and their ecosystems. Because we will be returning genes for these populations which could be important for them in facing environmental challenges. And also we could be returning potential seed dispersers, predators, preys, etc.
All of these were released by us. On the top, the turtles are just enjoying freedom. (Laughter) On the middle, this guy nested a couple of weeks after the release. And on the bottom, my personal favorite the little male over there, four hours after his release he was together with a wild female. So, this is not new, people have been doing this around the world. But it's still a big issue in Brazil. We believe we have performed responsible releases. We've registered released animals mating in nature, and having chicks. So, these genes are indeed going back to the populations.
However this is still a minority for the very lack of knowledge. So, I say let's study more, let's shed light on this issue, let's do whatever we can. I'm devoting my career to that. And I'm here to urge each and every one of you to do whatever is in your reach, talk to your neighbor, teach your children, make sure your pet is from a legal breeder. We need to act, and act now before these ones are the only ones left. Thank you very much.