它們比大熊貓還珍貴
They are strange-looking creatures, covered with hard scales (鱗). They can roll up into a ball to protect themselves from enemies and have tongues (舌頭) that are longer than their bodies. They rarely get the attention of people, and some even don’t know they exist. However, pangolins (穿山甲) have recently become the focus of Chinese people, after social media posts of the strange animal being eaten at dinner caused public anger.
它們渾身長滿了堅硬鱗片，是一種長相奇怪的生物。它們能將身體蜷成球狀以保護自己不被天敵傷害，而它們的舌頭比自己的身體還長。人們鮮少注意到它們，一些人甚至根本不知道它們的存在。然而，穿山甲近來卻成了中國人關注的焦點，起因是社交媒體上食用這一奇怪動物的帖子引發了衆怒。Earlier this month, a screenshot (截屏) of a micro blog post showing some people in Guangxi eating pangolins at a banquet spread. A few days later, people were angered again by pictures posted on a woman’s weibo account showing her eating protected animals, including pangolins.
本月早些時候，一張廣西“穿山甲宴”的微博截屏流傳開來。幾天後，一名女性在微博上曬出了自己食用穿山甲等保護動物的照片，此舉再度惹怒了公衆。
Yet this is only the tip of the iceberg. Many more pangolins have been hunted or killed. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), more than 1 million of them have been killed or sold in the last 10 years. It also said that they are the most illegally traded mammals (哺乳動物) in the world. In September, the IUCN added the pangolin to the world’s “endangered animals list”. They are now more endangered than pandas.
但這只是冰山一角。還有更多的穿山甲被獵殺。據世界自然保護聯盟 (IUCN) 的數據顯示，在過去的十年間，超過100萬的穿山甲被殺害販賣。該組織還表示，穿山甲是世界上遭受非法貿易最嚴重的哺乳動物。去年9月，世界自然保護聯盟將穿山甲列入世界“瀕危物種名錄”。現在，它們的瀕危程度已經超過了大熊貓。
A growing trade of their scales and meat is the main reason for their decline in numbers. Many people in Asia and Africa consider pangolin meat is a delicacy (美味). Some people even think pangolin scales have medicinal qualities. However, their scales are made of keratin (角蛋白), the same material human fingernails are made of.
販賣穿山甲鱗片和肉的案件越來越多，是它們數量遞減的主要原因。在亞洲和非洲，許多人將穿山甲視作一道佳餚。一些人甚至還認爲穿山甲鱗片具有藥用價值。然而，它們的鱗片只是由角蛋白組成，和人類指甲的成分無異。Luckily, the situation is getting better. World Pangolin Day is on the third Saturday of February each year. This year, it fell on Feb 18. It’s a day to help people know more about pangolins. The government now stops anyone from buying and eating pangolins in China. Breaking this law is regarded as a crime (罪行). The trade of pangolins across the world is also not allowed, according to the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
幸運的是，情況正在逐漸好轉。每年二月的第三個星期六是世界穿山甲日。今年的世界穿山甲日是2月18日。穿山甲日讓人們瞭解到更多關於穿山甲的知識。中國政府現在禁止購買及食用穿山甲。違反這項法律將被視爲犯罪。根據《瀕危野生動植物物種國際貿易公約》，在世界範圍內穿山甲貿易是被禁止的。“I hope more people will join us to protect pangolins from such a sad situation,” Zhou Canying, head of the Wildlife Protection Association in Changsha, told Xinhua News Agency.
“我希望更多人能加入我們，保護穿山甲，”長沙市野生動植物保護協會會長周燦英在接受新華社採訪時表示。
