香港活動人士抗議商家出售象牙

Protesters gathered Saturday outside a Hong Kong department store that had been prominently selling ivory products, part of an effort to publicize the city’s key role in the trade, which activists say contributes to the poaching of elephants.

週六，抗議者聚集在香港一個公然銷售象牙製品的百貨大樓外。這場抗議活動的目的在於向公衆展示香港在象牙貿易中所扮演的角色。活動人士稱，象牙貿易造成了偷獵大象的行爲。

Over the past year, at least three Hong Kong stores have stopped selling ivory after complaints by local conservationists. Stamps and decorative items made from ivory are traditionally valued in China, but in recent years activists have worked to highlight the connection between the sale of such products and the threatened extinction of African elephants.

過去一年裏，在當地環保人士投訴後，香港至少三家百貨公司停止售賣象牙。中國人傳統上認爲象牙製成的印章和裝飾品很貴重，但近年來，活動人士努力強調這類產品的銷售，與非洲大象瀕臨滅絕之間存在聯繫。

The Chinese basketball star Yao Ming is the most visible face of that campaign. He traveled to Africa in 2012 and recently released a book and documentary on the severe risks faced by elephants and rhinos due to poaching for their tusks and horns.

在這場行動中，中國籃球明星姚明是最引人注目的代表。他於2012年前往非洲，並在前不久推出了一本書和相關紀錄片，介紹盜取象牙和犀牛角的偷獵活動，給大象和犀牛帶來的嚴峻威脅。

The three dozen or so protesters who gathered at the Chinese Goods Center in Hong Kong’s North Point neighborhood included a child in an elephant costume and drummers from Ghana, Togo, Cameroon and Nigeria. Tony Lui, a salesman at the store, said Saturday afternoon that the items on display were carved from mammoth tusk, which can legally be sold.

聚集在香港北角地區華豐國貨(Chinese Goods Center)外的三十多名抗議者中，包括一名身穿大象道具服的孩子，以及多名來自加納、多哥、喀麥隆和尼日利亞的鼓手。該百貨大樓的售貨員託尼·呂(Tony Lui)週六下午表示，陳列的貨品都是由可合法交易的猛獁象牙雕刻而成。

Alex Hofford, a Hong Kong-based wildlife campaigner for the conservation group WildAid, said the store had removed its stock of ivory from display earlier in the day. A journalist who attempted to take a photo of the store’s license to sell ivory was briefly grabbed by a man suspected of working for an ivory wholesaler, Mr. Hofford said.

但環保組織野生救援(WildAid)駐香港的野生動物保護活動人士亞歷克斯·霍福德(Alex Hofford)稱，該百貨大樓已在當天早些時候，撤下了陳列貨品中的象牙。霍福德稱，一名記者嘗試拍下該百貨大樓銷售象牙製品的執照，但遭到一名男子唐突無禮的驅趕。那名男子可能供職於一家象牙批發商。

Conservationists say Hong Kong is a key point for the sale of ivory to visitors from mainland China. Trade in ivory was banned in 1989 under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, but products that were commercially available before then can still be sold. Activists accuse Hong Kong retailers of using that exemption as cover for selling freshly harvested ivory products, and they are pushing for a complete ban on all ivory sales to limit the potential for illegal trade.

環保人士稱，在向中國內地遊客銷售象牙的過程中，香港是一個關鍵環節。1989年，按照《瀕危野生動植物種國際貿易公約》(Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species)的規定，象牙貿易受到禁止，但該公約頒佈前就在商業領域流通的象牙製品依然可以銷售。活動人士指責，香港的零售商以這一例外爲幌子，銷售新取得的象牙製品。他們正在推動一項針對所有象牙貿易的全面禁令，從而限制潛在的非法貿易。

“The reason we were protesting outside that store was not to target that store in particular,” Mr. Hofford said. “They seemed to be a good target because they had ivory on display and it was easy for the public to see. What we’re actually trying to do is highlight Hong Kong’s illegal trade. We think the parallel illegal trade from poached ivory comes to Hong Kong and is laundered with existing stocks.”

“我們在那座百貨大樓外抗議的原因，並不是專門針對那家商店，”霍福德說。“他們似乎是個不錯的對象，因爲他們把象牙陳列了出來，公衆容易看到。我們實際上是想強調香港的非法貿易。我們認爲，暗地裏進行的非法貿易，讓偷獵的象牙流入了香港，並且被人用現有的庫存洗白了。”

In May, the Hong Kong government began destroying nearly 30 tons of confiscated ivory, which wildlife campaigners called an important step to emphasize the illegality of trafficking products made from elephant tusk.

今年5月，香港政府開始銷燬近30噸收繳的象牙。野生動物保護活動人士稱這是重要的一步，突顯出販運象牙製品是非法的。

But the Hong Kong authorities have resisted taking further action. The government has rejected a request to join the Elephant Protection Initiative, The South China Morning Post reported. Five African states that are home to elephants — Botswana, Chad, Ethiopia, Gabon and Tanzania — are part of that effort, which calls for steps to end to all ivory sales, the newspaper said.

但香港當局不願採取進一步的行動。《南華早報》(The South China Morning Post)報道，香港政府拒絕了加入大象保護計劃(Elephant Protection Initiative)的請求。該報稱，大象保護計劃呼籲採取行動，結束所有象牙貿易。發起該計劃的包括境內生活着大象的五個非洲國家，分別是博茨瓦納、乍得、埃塞俄比亞、加蓬和坦桑尼亞。