隨著旅游業(yè)的枯竭，非洲瀕危野生動物面臨危險

隨著旅游業(yè)的枯竭，非洲瀕危野生動物面臨危險

With tourists gone and their money, too, protecting endangered wildlife like black rhinos has become that much more challenging. And the poachers, like many desperate to make a living, might become more daring.

隨著游客的離去，他們的錢也花光了，保護像黑犀牛這樣的瀕危野生動物變得更具挑戰(zhàn)性。偷獵者可能會像許多拼命謀生的人一樣，變得更加膽大妄為。

Rhinos have long been under threat from poachers who kill them for their horns to supply illegal trade fueled by the mistaken belief that the horns have medicinal value.

長期以來，犀牛一直受到偷獵者的威脅。偷獵者認為犀牛角有藥用價值，為了獲取犀牛角進行非法貿(mào)易而獵殺犀牛。

Now there are concerns that the COVID-19 pandemic may increase such poaching, said John Tekeles, a patrol guide and head of the dog unit at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya.

肯尼亞奧佩杰塔動物保護協(xié)會(Ol Pejeta Conservancy)的犬部負責(zé)人、巡邏向?qū)Ъs翰·泰克萊斯(John Tekeles)說，現(xiàn)在有人擔(dān)心，新冠肺炎疫情可能會增加這種偷獵行為。

“We are more alert because maybe more poachers will use this time to come in to poach,” Tekeles said.

泰克萊斯說：“我們更加警惕，因為也許更多的偷獵者會利用這段時間來偷獵。”。

The number of black rhinos in Africa has been slowly increasing though the species remains “critically endangered,” according to a report in March by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, or IUCN. It credits, in part, effective law enforcement.

根據(jù)國際自然保護聯(lián)盟(IUCN)今年3月的一份報告，非洲黑犀牛的數(shù)量一直在緩慢增加，盡管該物種仍然處于“極度瀕危”狀態(tài)。這部分歸功于強有效的執(zhí)法。

Ol Pejeta is home to more than 130 black rhinos, the single largest population in East and Central Africa, said Richard Vigne, the conservancy’s managing director.

保護協(xié)會總經(jīng)理理查德·維恩說，歐佩塔是130多頭黑犀牛的家園，是東非和中非數(shù)量最大族群。

Protecting them is expensive. Ol Pejeta spends about $10,000 per year per rhino on that protection, Vigne said.

保護他們是昂貴的。維恩說，Ol Pejeta保護協(xié)會每年花在保護犀牛上的費用約為10000美元。

“In our case that comes to close to $2 million a year,” he said. “In the time of COVID, when tourism has completely stopped, where most of our revenue comes from tourism, the revenue we need to earn to protect the rhino comes from tourism, it’s a complete disaster.”

他說：“以我們的情況來看，這一數(shù)字接近每年200萬美元。”。“疫情期間，旅游業(yè)完全停止，我們的大部分收入來自旅游業(yè)，我們保護犀牛所需的收入也來自旅游業(yè)，這是一場徹底的災(zāi)難。”

The conservancy expects to see $3 million to $4 million in lost revenue this year. Therefore, Vigne said, “our ability to look after the rhinos is compromised.”

保護協(xié)會預(yù)計今年將損失300萬至400萬美元的收入。因此，維恩說：“我們照顧犀牛的能力受到了損害。”

Conservationists across Africa are now monitoring to see how poachers might try to take advantage and whether more rare wildlife will be killed.

目前，非洲各地的自然資源保護主義者正密切關(guān)注偷獵者可能會如何利用這些資源，以及是否會有更多的珍稀野生動物被捕殺。

Africa’s various rhino species had been seeing a downward trend in poaching, according to the IUCN, with 892 poached in 2018, a drop from a peak of 1,349 in 2015.

據(jù)世界自然保護聯(lián)盟(IUCN)的數(shù)據(jù)，非洲各種犀牛物種的偷獵量一直呈下降趨勢，2018年共有892頭犀牛被偷獵，較2015年的1349頭高峰有所下降。

And the population of black rhinos had been growing by an annual rate of 2.5 percent between 2012 and 2018 to more than 5,600.

從2012年到2018年，黑犀牛的數(shù)量以每年2.5%的速度增長，超過了5600頭。

That growth was projected to continue over the next five years, the IUCN has said.

世界自然保護聯(lián)盟表示，這種增長預(yù)計將在未來5年繼續(xù)下去。