2022年11月21日 VOA慢速英語：海龜作為寵物的需求增加，導致偷獵增加

A growing demand for turtles as pets in the United States, Asia, and Europe has led to a rise in poaching. Poaching means to catch or kill an animal illegally.
美國、亞洲和歐洲對海龜作為寵物的需求不斷增長，導致偷獵活動增加。偷獵是指非法捕捉或殺死動物。
 
Wildlife trade experts believe the rise in poaching is adding to the worldwide drop in rare freshwater turtles and tortoises.
野生動物貿(mào)易專家認為，偷獵的增加導致全球稀有淡水龜和陸龜數(shù)量減少。
 
Such concerns have led to proposals to increase protection for freshwater turtles.
此類擔憂導致人們提議加強對淡水龜?shù)谋Ｗo。
 
More than 180 nations have gathered this week in Panama as part of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES. The CITES meeting runs from November 14 to 25.
本周，作為《瀕危野生動植物種國際貿(mào)易公約》(CITES) 的一部分，180 多個國家齊聚巴拿馬. CITES 會議于 11 月 14 日至 25 日舉行。
 
Exact numbers on the turtle trade, especially illegal trade, can be hard to find.
海龜貿(mào)易的確切數(shù)字，尤其是非法貿(mào)易，很難找到。
 
Tara Easter, a doctoral student at the University of Michigan, studies the trade. She looked at turtle trade data from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She estimates that the business export trade for mud turtles in the United States increased from 1,844 in 1999 to nearly 40,000 in 2017. And she estimated that the trade in musk turtles increased from 8,254 in 1999 to more than 281,000 in 2016.
密歇根大學的博士生塔拉·伊斯特 (Tara Easter) 研究貿(mào)易。她查看了美國魚類和野生動物管理局的海龜貿(mào)易數(shù)據(jù)。她估計美國的泥龜商業(yè)出口貿(mào)易從 1999 年的 1,844 只增加到 2017 年的近 40,000 只。她估計麝香龜?shù)馁Q(mào)易從 1999 年的 8,254 只增加到 2016 年的 281,000 多只。
 
Smuggling of turtles
海龜走私
 
The Collaborative to Combat the Illegal Trade in Turtles is a group of mostly state, federal and tribal biologists working to combat poaching of North American turtles. Since 2018, the group has documented at least 30 major illegal trafficking cases in 15 states. Some involved fewer than 50 turtles. Other cases involved several thousand turtles.
打擊海龜非法貿(mào)易合作組織主要由州、聯(lián)邦和部落生物學家組成，致力于打擊北美海龜偷獵行為。自 2018 年以來，該組織在 15 個州記錄了至少 30 起重大非法販運案件。有些涉及不到 50 只海龜。其他案件涉及數(shù)千只海龜。

Earlier this year, a federal judge in North Carolina sentenced a man to 18 months in prison and fined him $25,000 for trafficking turtles in violation of the Lacey Act. The law bans trafficking in fish, wildlife, or plants that are illegally taken, held, transported, or sold.
今年早些時候，北卡羅來納州的一名聯(lián)邦法官因違反《雷斯法案》販賣海龜而判處一名男子 18 個月監(jiān)禁并罰款 25,000 美元。法律禁止販運非法獲取、持有、運輸或出售的魚類、野生動物或植物。
 
The man trafficked 722 eastern box turtles, 122 spotted turtles, and three wood turtles for markets in Asia. The man received more than $120,000 for the turtles, which have a value of $1.5 million in Asia.
這名男子為亞洲市場販運了 722 只東方箱龜、122 只斑點龜和三只木龜。這名男子從這些海龜身上獲得了超過 12 萬美元的收入，這些海龜在亞洲的價值為 150 萬美元。
Illegal trafficking
非法販運
 
Freshwater turtles are among the world's most trafficked animals. They are targeted by criminal networks that connect with buyers on the internet. They transport the reptiles to black markets in Hong Kong and other places in Asia. From there, they are sold as pets, to collectors, and for breeding, food, and traditional medicine. In many countries, there are no laws to govern the trade.
淡水龜是世界上被販運最多的動物之一。他們成為與互聯(lián)網(wǎng)買家聯(lián)系的犯罪網(wǎng)絡的目標。他們將爬行動物運往香港和亞洲其他地方的黑市。從那里，它們被作為寵物出售給收藏家，并用于繁殖、食品和傳統(tǒng)醫(yī)藥。在許多國家，沒有法律來規(guī)范貿(mào)易。
 
The business can be highly profitable. Some kinds of turtles are sought out for their colorful or unusual appearance. They can be sold for thousands of dollars in Asia.
該業(yè)務可以賺取高額利潤。某些種類的海龜因其色彩鮮艷或不尋常的外觀而受到追捧。它們在亞洲可以賣到數(shù)千美元。
 
The trade adds to the threats turtles already face, including climate change, environment destruction and other animals eating their eggs.
貿(mào)易增加了海龜已經(jīng)面臨的威脅，包括氣候變化、環(huán)境破壞和其他動物吃它們的蛋。
Experts say poachers are even more problematic because they target rare kinds of turtles and adult females.
專家表示，偷獵者問題更大，因為他們以稀有種類的海龜和成年雌性海龜為目標。
 
"The loss of large numbers of adults, especially females, can send turtles into a spiraling decline from which they cannot recover," said Dave Collins. He is director of North American turtle conservation for the Turtle Survival Alliance.
戴夫柯林斯說：“大量成年海龜，尤其是雌性海龜?shù)牧魇?，會使海龜陷入螺旋式下降，無法從中恢復過來。”他是海龜生存聯(lián)盟的北美海龜保護主任。
 
Government protection
政府保護
 
The United States and several Latin American countries have proposed banning or limiting the trade in more than 20 turtle species. In their CITES proposal, the countries included data from Mexico that found nearly 20,000 were confiscated from 2010 to 2022. To confiscate means to take something away from someone to enforce laws or rules.
美國和幾個拉美國家已提議禁止或限制貿(mào)易超過20種海龜。在他們的 CITES 提案中，這些國家包括了來自墨西哥的數(shù)據(jù)，這些數(shù)據(jù)發(fā)現(xiàn)從 2010 年到 2022 年有近 20,000 件被沒收。沒收意味著從某人那里拿走一些東西以執(zhí)行法律或規(guī)則。
 
The illegal trade has also led governments to propose listing for the first time 42 turtle species under CITES – including North American musk turtles. A listing means traders will need permits to sell them internationally.
非法貿(mào)易還導致各國政府提議首次將 42 種海龜列入 CITES，其中包括北美麝香龜。上市意味著貿(mào)易商將需要許可證才能在國際上銷售它們。
 
Matthew Strickler is with the U.S. Department of the Interior. He is heading the American group at the CITES meeting in Panama. He called the possible listings and increased protection for North American turtles "really, really important."
Matthew Strickler 在美國內(nèi)政部工作。他領(lǐng)導美國小組參加在巴拿馬舉行的 CITES 會議。他稱對北美海龜?shù)目赡苌鲜泻图訌姳Ｗo“真的非常重要”。
 
"We've seen this pattern of turtles being depleted in one place, and then poachers and traffickers and traders moving to another place," Strickler said. "Southeast Asia was depleted. They moved to Africa. Now, we see them moving to the Americas."
“我們已經(jīng)看到這種海龜在一個地方被耗盡的模式，然后偷獵者、販運者和貿(mào)易商轉(zhuǎn)移到另一個地方，”斯特里克勒說。 “東南亞已經(jīng)耗盡。他們搬到了非洲?，F(xiàn)在，我們看到他們搬到了美洲。”