保護非洲象 肯尼亞銷燬百餘噸走私象牙

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has set fire to a huge stockpile of ivory in an effort to show his country's commitment to saving Africa's elephants.

近日，肯尼亞總統烏胡魯·肯雅塔放火銷燬了巨大象牙庫，以展示他的國家拯救非洲大象的承諾。

More than 100 tonnes of ivory was stacked up in pyres in Nairobi National Park where it is expected to burn for several days. The ivory represents nearly the entire stock confiscated by Kenya, amounting to the tusks of about 6,700 elephants.

超過100噸的象牙堆積在內羅畢國家公園，預計要燒好幾天。這是肯尼亞沒收的幾乎全部的象牙，總計大約是6700頭大象的象牙數量。

Before igniting the first pyre, Mr Kenyatta said: "The height of the pile of ivory before us marks the strength of our resolve. No-one, and I repeat no-one, has any business in trading in ivory, for this trade means death of our elephants and death of our natural heritage."

在點燃第一堆象牙之前，肯雅塔先生表示：“這堆擺在我們面前的象牙的高度，標誌着我們決心的力量。沒有人，我再說一遍，沒有人，應該與象牙貿易有任何關係，因爲這種貿易意味着大象的死亡，也是我們自然遺產的死亡。”

Experts have warned Africa's elephants could be extinct within decades.

專家們已經警告稱，非洲大象可能在幾十年內滅絕。

But some conservationists have expressed opposition to the ivory burn in Kenya, the biggest in history. They say destroying so much of a rare commodity could increase its value and encourage more poaching rather than less.

但一些環保主義者則反對肯尼亞這次歷史上最大的燃燒象牙的做法。他們表示，摧毀了這麼多奇貨可居的物品可能反而增加它的價值，鼓勵更多的偷獵，而不是減少。

Botswana, which is home to about half of Africa's elephants, is opposed to the burn and its president did not attend the event in Nairobi.

擁有非洲大象總羣半數的博茨瓦納就反對燒燬行爲，所以該國總統沒有出席在內羅畢舉行的活動。