CNN News: 博茨瓦納取消大象狩獵禁令

We start today in Southern Africa. A change has been made in the nation of Botswana, and it concerns elephants.

今天我們從南非開始。博茨瓦納發(fā)生了變化，這與大象有關(guān)。

Since 2014, it’s been illegal to hunt them there. Botswana has an estimated 130,000 African elephants, more than any other African country.

自2014年以來，在博茨瓦納獵殺它們是非法的。博茨瓦納估計(jì)有13萬頭非洲象，比其他非洲國家都多。

It put the hunting ban in 2014 to help the animals recover from habitat loss and poaching when people kill them illegally. Now, though, Botswana’s government has eliminated the ban, which means elephant hunting is once again allowed there, as it already is in neighboring nations.

博茨瓦納獵在2014年頒布了狩獵禁令，以幫助那些無棲息地和偷獵中的動(dòng)物中恢復(fù)過來。然而現(xiàn)在，博茨瓦納政府已經(jīng)取消了這一禁令，這意味著狩獵大象再次被允許，就像鄰國那樣。

The idea is that legal hunting will take place in the wilderness, far away from where people live. The government says elephant populations are now stable, so they can be hunted, and it says that problems between residents and elephants had been increasing. Scores of people are killed or injured by elephants each year.

其理念是，合法狩獵將在遠(yuǎn)離人類居住地的荒野中進(jìn)行。政府說，大象的數(shù)量現(xiàn)在是穩(wěn)定的，所以可以獵殺它們，而且居民和大象之間的問題一直在增加。每年有數(shù)十人被大象殺死或傷害。

And a villager who spoke to CNN says the animals destroy crops and don’t benefit the community. Conservationists, of course, have a different view, One told CNN that hunting is a, quote, "outdated practice which has no place in the modern world." And another said that allowing elephant hunting is like allowing people to shoot cats, dogs or great apes.

一位村民在接受CNN采訪時(shí)表示，這些動(dòng)物毀壞了莊稼，對(duì)社區(qū)沒有好處。當(dāng)然，自然資源保護(hù)主義者有不同的觀點(diǎn)，一個(gè)人告訴CNN，狩獵是一種“過時(shí)的做法，在現(xiàn)代世界沒有立足之地。”還有人說，允許獵殺大象就像允許人們射殺貓、狗或類人猿一樣。

But he also says that if elephant hunting is managed correctly, it won’t affect overall numbers of elephants in Botswana. Poaching, however, can.

但他也表示，如果獵象管理得當(dāng)，不會(huì)影響博茨瓦納大象的總數(shù)。但偷獵除外。

There are signs that poaching’s been on the rise in Botswana. It’s carried out by people who hope to illegally sell the ivory from elephant tusks on the black market.

跡象表明，博茨瓦納的偷獵活動(dòng)正在增加。它是由那些希望在黑市非法出售象牙的人所實(shí)施的。

It’s not known exactly what kind of impact legal hunting will have on poaching or elephant populations as a whole, but it’s something that Botswana’s people, its government and conservationists will be watching.

目前還不清楚合法狩獵會(huì)對(duì)偷獵或大象數(shù)量產(chǎn)生何種影響，但這是博茨瓦納人民、政府和自然資源保護(hù)主義者將密切關(guān)注此事。