從叢林到餐桌 越南非法野生動物貿易調查

U MINH, Vietnam — Luc Van Ho slips through a tangled thicket of jungle, graceful as a dancer. A blanket of dried bamboo and melaleuca leaves on the forest floor barely crackles beneath his bare feet. Only the smell of cigarette smoke betrays his presence.

越南幽明縣——陸雲虎(Luc Van Ho)穿過一從糾纏交錯的叢林植被，動作如舞者一樣輕盈。林地上厚厚地鋪着一層乾枯的竹葉和千層樹葉，在他的光腳下幾乎沒有發出聲響。只有煙味暴露着他的蹤跡。

A hunter, Mr. Luc, 45, set out at dawn from his family’s bamboo-thatched home in Vietnam’s U Minh forest to check a half dozen homemade traps rigged along animal trails in the underbrush and on canal banks frequented by snakes and turtles.

現年45歲的陸雲虎是一名狩獵者，住在越南烏明森林的一棟竹屋裏。他一大早就從家中出發，去查看自己佈下的六個陷阱。這些陷阱分佈在有動物經過的下層灌木底下，以及經常有蛇和烏龜出沒的運河河岸。

He stops at a snare trap made of wood and bicycle brake wire, nearly invisible beneath leaves. The trap is empty, not unusual.

他走到了一個用木頭和自行車閘線做成的陷阱，埋在葉子下面的裝置幾乎沒人能發現。陷阱裏空空如也，這種情況並不少見。

“Before, this forest was very different,” Mr. Luc said. “Now, the animals are so few that most hunters are changing their jobs.”

“這片森林以前可不是這樣，”陸雲虎說。“現在動物太少了，多數獵人都改了行。”

Still, in the previous two weeks, Mr. Luc had caught nine Southeast Asian box turtles and Malayan snail-eating turtles, five elephant trunk snakes, a handful of water birds and two rare Himalayan griffon vultures. For safekeeping, Mr. Luc stashed the vultures in his brother’s house, leaving them tethered in the bedroom until he can figure out what to do with them.

儘管如此，在過去的兩個星期，陸雲虎還是捕獲了九隻馬來閉殼龜和馬來食螺龜、五條象鼻蛇、少量水鳥，以及兩隻稀有的高山兀鷲。爲了妥善保管這兩隻兀鷲，陸雲虎把它們存放在了兄弟的房子裏。在想出處理它們的辦法之前，暫時把它們拴在了臥室裏。

In the past, Mr. Luc’s hunting trips often yielded wildlife bonanzas, including prized pangolins. Also known as scaly anteaters, they are among the most trafficked mammals in the world. Mr. Luc works with traders willing to buy live pangolins for $60 a pound.

過去，陸雲虎的狩獵之行常常會有大量斬獲，包括名貴的穿山甲。這是全世界走私最嚴重的哺乳動物之一。與陸雲虎合作的商人願意以每磅60美元（約合370元人民幣）的價格收購活穿山甲。

Although he caught just two pangolins last year, that price makes it well worth the effort to keep seeking them out. He knows, however, that this lucrative resource is finite.

雖說陸雲虎過去一年中只捕獲過兩隻穿山甲，這個價格讓他覺得，繼續尋找穿山甲是值得的。然而他知道，這個豐厚的收入來源不會永遠存在。

“Pangolins will be extinct soon,” he said. Still, he expresses no plans to retire.

“穿山甲很快就會滅絕了，”他說。不過，他並沒有打算金盆洗手。

Mr. Luc is one of thousands of illegal hunters draining Vietnam, one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, of its animals. Its rhinoceroses have already gone extinct, and conservationists estimate that just a couple of its tigers, if any, remain. Even lesser known species like soft-shell turtles and civets are sought out for traditional medicines, food, trophies and pets.

像陸雲虎這樣的成千上萬的非法捕獵者，正在讓越南的動物資源走向枯竭。越南是世界上最具生物多樣性的國家之一。越南的犀牛已經滅絕。動物保護人士估計，這裏的老虎即使沒滅絕，可能也不多了。一些人們不太熟悉的物種，比如中華鱉和靈貓，也是捕獵的對象，它們被用來製作傳統藥材和食物，或是當做紀念品和寵物。

Illegal wildlife is one of the world’s largest contraband trades, netting an estimated $19 billion a year, not including illegal fisheries and timber. While all Southeast Asian countries and many others outside of the region are involved, Vietnam plays a paramount role. The country is a major thoroughfare for wildlife goods bound for China, which arrive overland from Cambodia, Thailand and Laos; by ship from Malaysia and Indonesia; or by air from Africa.

非法野生動物貿易是世界上規模最大的違禁貿易之一，每年的規模約爲190億美元，這還不包括非法的漁業和木材貿易。儘管東南亞國家和該地區以外的許多國家都捲入了這場貿易，越南扮演着獨一無二的重要角色。該國是野生動物商品進入中國的主要渠道，這些商品從柬埔寨、泰國和老撾經陸路、從馬來西亞和印度尼西亞經水路，從非洲經空運抵達越南，然後流入中國。

“After China, Vietnam is the next port of call in terms of where to look to figure out what’s going on with wildlife trade,” said Dan Challender, a co-chairman of the pangolin specialist group at the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

“要弄清楚野生動物貿易的狀況，除了中國之外，越南是第二個值得關注的地方，”國際自然保護聯盟(International Union for Conservation of Nature)穿山甲保護專項小組的聯席主席丹·查蘭德(Dan Challender)說。

Vietnam is also a significant consumer of wildlife, especially those yielding the ingredients for traditional medicine, such as rhino horn, which is used to treat everything from cancer to hangovers. The exotic meats of rare animals are seen as luxuries by a rising middle class eager to advertise its prosperity.

越南也是野生動物產品重要的消費國，特別是那些能夠用來製造傳統藥材的動物產品，比如犀牛角。犀牛角被用來治療從癌症到宿醉的各種疾病。此外，日益龐大的中產階級也把稀有動物的肉看做能夠彰顯自身財富的奢侈商品。

“Pangolin is frequently the most expensive item on the menu, so ordering it is an obvious way to show off to friends and colleagues,” Dr. Challender said. “The fact that it’s illegal isn’t played down and is even attractive, because it adds this element that you live beyond the law.”

“穿山甲常常是菜單上最貴的菜，因此點一道穿山甲顯然是對朋友同事進行炫耀的一種方式，”查蘭德說。“他們不掩飾食用穿山甲屬非法行爲的事實，反而覺得更有吸引力，因爲它爲這種行爲增加了刺激元素，彷彿你可以逍遙法外。”

International concern about the trade have never been greater, but conferences, new enforcement strategies and ivory crushes have yet to make a dent.

國際上對這種貿易的擔憂已經達到了前所未有的程度，不過，相關的會議、新的執法策略以及銷燬象牙製品的行動還沒有產生什麼效果。

In February, the Obama administration issued a plan to curb illegal wildlife trade by strengthening enforcement, reducing demand and sending a handful of agents abroad. The United States is the second-largest market for illegal wildlife products, but only an estimated 10 percent of traffickers are caught because of inadequate resources supporting enforcement, as well as legal loopholes pertaining to certain products, such as ivory.

今年2月，奧巴馬政府推出了一項通過加強執法、減少需求和派遣少數工作人員到海外的方法來遏制野生動物貿易的方案。美國是非法野生動物商品的第二大市場，但由於用於執法的資源不足，而且涉及特定產品，比如象牙，又存在法律漏洞，只有10%的走私者落網。

“Wildlife trade is higher profile now than it’s ever been, and that’s great,” said Chris Shepherd, regional director in Southeast Asia of Traffic, a wildlife trade monitoring network. “But all of the talk about this issue by world leaders is not trickling down to the ground yet.”

“野生動物貿易獲得了前所未有的關注，”監測野生動物貿易的組織Traffic的東南亞地區主任克里斯·謝潑德(Chris Shepherd)說。“但所有關於該問題的討論並沒有落到實處。”

In January of this year, officials intercepted more than 7,500 protected pig-nosed turtles in Indonesia, a frozen tiger in Vietnam and 190 endangered black pond turtles in Singapore. As wildlife disappears in Southeast Asia, poachers increasingly turn to Africa.

今年1月，有關部門在印度尼西亞截獲了超過7500頭豬鼻龜，在越南截獲了一頭被冷藏的老虎，在新加坡則是190只瀕危的黑池龜。隨着東南亞野生動物的不斷消失，越來越多的偷獵者把目光轉向了非洲。

More than 1,500 pounds of ivory and two tons of pangolin skins were intercepted in Uganda in January. Last year in South Africa alone, a record 1,215 rhinos were killed for their horns.

今年1月，烏干達截獲了超過1500噸象牙和兩噸穿山甲皮。去年，只在南非，偷獵者爲了獲得犀牛角獵殺了1215頭犀牛，這個數字創下了歷年之最。

The illegal wildlife products that officials manage to interdict account for an estimated 10 to 20 percent of the total trafficked.

官員們截獲的非法野生動物產品相當於全部走私規模的10%到20%。

“We may be disrupting criminal networks, but we’re certainly not dismantling any of them,” said Scott Roberton, Vietnam country representative and regional coordinator for wildlife trafficking programs for the Wildlife Conservation Society. “The situation is going to get worse before it gets better.”

“我們或許干擾了犯罪集團，但我們毫無疑問沒有消滅其中的任何一個，”國際野生生物保護學會(Wildlife Conservation Society)越南國家代表和野生動物走私項目地區協調員斯科特·羅伯森(Scott Roberton)說。“在情況有所改善之前，還會進一步惡化。”

While China recently increased its arrests and prosecutions for wildlife crimes, those caught trafficking wildlife in Vietnam or other transit countries almost always escape punishment. Dealing in protected species is a criminal offense under Vietnamese law, as is selling wild-caught animals of any kind.

雖然中國近期在野生動物犯罪方面加強了拘捕與訴訟工作，但那些在越南等中轉國抓獲的野生動物走私者幾乎總能逃脫懲罰。按照越南法律的規定，交易保護物種或銷售任何種類的野外捕獲的動物均屬犯罪行爲。

But even when trafficking kingpins are taken into custody, prosecution often depends on finding unrelated charges that are taken more seriously than wildlife crime, such as car smuggling. Poachers like Mr. Luc — who says he has never run into legal trouble — are rarely reprimanded, and punishment, if any, usually entails a small fine.

不過，就算走私活動主犯遭到扣押，要想進行訴訟也往往有賴於找到比野生動物犯罪更嚴重的不相干罪名，比如走私汽車。陸雲虎表示，自己從未遭遇法律問題。像他這樣的偷獵者很少受到責難，即使面臨懲處，也常常是一小筆罰款了事。

“Very few criminals caught for major violations like tiger or rhino horn possession ever do a day in prison,” said Douglas Hendrie, chief technical adviser for Education for Nature-Vietnam, a nonprofit organization based in Vietnam.

“因爲持有虎製品或犀牛角這種重大違法行爲而被抓獲的犯罪分子中，幾乎沒有人在監獄裏待過哪怕一天，”越南保護自然教育組織(Education for Nature-Vietnam)的首席技術顧問道格拉斯·亨德里(Douglas Hendrie)說。這是一家設在越南當地的非營利機構。

Wild-caught and protected animal products are easily procured in Vietnamese cities. “It’s not an enforcement priority yet, largely due to corruption, collusion and an absolute lack of concern,” Dr. Shepherd said. “People just do not care.”

在越南的各大城市，很容易弄到野外捕獲及受保護動物的製品。“這還不是執法的重點，而其中的主要原因是腐敗、串謀，以及漠不關心，”謝潑德說。“大家完全不在乎。”

Thien Vuong Tuu (“The Alcohol of the Gods”), a fancy restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City, advertises pangolin, bear, porcupine, bat and more on its illustrated menu. Customers interested in pangolin — sold for $150 a pound — must order it two to three hours in advance and place a deposit based on its weight.

胡志明市的一家高檔餐廳“天王酒家”(Thien Vuong Tuu)在配了圖片的菜單上宣傳自己供應穿山甲、熊、豪豬和蝙蝠等菜品。穿山甲的售價爲每磅150美元（約合每公斤2000元人民幣）。有意品嚐的顧客必須提前兩三小時預訂，並按照份量交一筆預付款。

When the customer returns for dinner, the manager presents the live pangolin to the table, then slices its throat on the spot to prove that the meat is fresh and has not been substituted.

當客人回來吃晚餐的時候，經理會把活的穿山甲拿到餐桌前來展示，然後當場割喉，證明肉質新鮮，沒有被掉包。

“Pangolin is very popular with customers, because it treats a lot of sicknesses,” said Quoc Trung, the restaurant manager. His staff will also dry and package pangolin scales left over from dinner — a popular ingredient in traditional medicines that are still covered by Vietnamese health insurance.

“穿山甲在顧客當中非常受歡迎，因爲它能治很多病，”餐廳經理國徵說。他手下的員工還會將餐桌上剩下的穿山甲鱗片晾乾後包裝起來——這是一種流行的傳統藥物成分，至今仍爲越南醫療保險所接納。

On a Sunday night, families with young children and groups of middle-aged men fill the restaurant. At one table, two French-speaking men order a cobra to the delight of their female companions. Two young servers bring out a large, writhing snake, its mouth bound tightly shut with plastic twine.

一個週日的晚上，這家餐廳裏滿是帶着小孩的家庭顧客和一羣羣的中年男性。在一張桌子上，兩名說法語的男士點了條眼鏡蛇，討得了他們女伴的歡心。兩個年輕的服務員端出一條身軀扭動的大蛇，它的嘴部被塑料繩牢牢綁住。

As the customers film with their smartphones, one server holds the snake taut. The other carefully feels along the animal’s abdomen until he locates the heart, then opens it up with a pair of scissors and removes the beating organ with his bare fingers.

客人用智能手機拍攝的同時，一名服務員緊緊抓住蛇身，另一人則在它的腹部摸索，確定了心臟的位置之後，再用一把剪刀剖開，徒手取出這顆還在跳動的臟器。

As the servers wring out the animal, the blood drips into a ceramic bowl to be mixed later with alcohol and drunk.

服務員瀝出蛇血，滴到一個瓷碗中，準備拿去兌酒供客人飲用。

“The government doesn’t allow exotic meat, but we have our sources and good connections with the police,” Mr. Quoc said after the show concluded. “The demand is so high for these things, so we have to supply them.”

“政府不許用稀有肉類，不過我們有貨源，跟警察關係好，”這番表演結束後，國徵說。“這些東西需求特別大，我們一定要供應。”

Given the widespread lack of enforcement, grass-roots conservation organizations in Vietnam increasingly find themselves on the front lines. Education for Nature-Vietnam recently conducted a survey of restaurants, hotels and shops in 12 districts in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, recording each violation of wildlife laws and insisting that authorities follow up.

由於執法的普遍缺失，越南的草根保護組織越來越多地感到自己身處第一線。越南保護自然教育組織近期對河內和胡志明市12個區的餐廳、酒店和商鋪進行了調查，記錄下違反野生動物法規的每項行爲，並且堅決要求相關機構予以跟進。

Several months later, the group repeated the survey and found the availability of illegal products ranging from snake “wine” to bear bile had fallen by nearly 60 percent in eight of the districts. “When authorities put us out of work by doing their job effectively and consistently, then we’ll no longer have to do this,” Mr. Hendrie said.

幾個月後，該組織再次進行了調查，發現在其中八個區弄到蛇酒和熊膽等非法制品的可能性降低了近60%。“當局持續有效地做好本職工作，讓我們沒事可幹的時候，我們纔會不用做這些，”亨德里說。

Save Vietnam’s Wildlife, a nonprofit based at Cuc Phuong National Park, organizes training sessions across the country for park rangers and the police, conducts community education programs and operates one of the country’s only rehabilitation centers for confiscated animals.

設在菊芳國家公園(Cuc Phuong National Park)內的非營利機構“拯救越南野生動物組織”(Save Vietnam’s Wildlife)在該國各地組織面向護林員和警察的培訓活動、運營社區教育項目，並且開設了一家越南少有的罰沒動物康復中心。

In Vietnam, much of the wildlife intercepted from illegal traders is sold by officials back into the black market. Nguyen Van Thain, Save Vietnam’s Wildlife’s founder, often must race to the sites of recent confiscations to try to recover animals before that can happen.

在越南，從非法交易者手中截獲的許多野生動物都會被官員賣回黑市。拯救越南野生動物組織的創始人阮文泰(Nguyen Van Thain)常常需要趕去最新的罰沒現場，纔可能及時救回動物。

“Corrupt rangers still want to sell animals back to the trade,” Mr. Nguyen said. Even if the animals are not sold, very few return to the wild, because of a lack of rehabilitation facilities.

“腐敗的林業工作者還是想要把動物弄回去賣掉，”阮文泰說。因爲康復中心的匱乏，就算動物免於被販賣的命運，也沒有多少能重返大自然。

Animals not sent to a specialized rescue center often “just sit around until they die,” Dr. Shepherd said.

未能送到專業救治中心的動物往往“坐以待斃，”謝潑德說。

Over the last three months, Mr. Nguyen has helped rescue 20 pangolins, but the maximum capacity at his center — one of only two in Vietnam that can care for pangolins — is less than 50. With a budget of just $90,000 a year, he has few resources with which to expand the center and hire additional staff.

過去三個月裏，阮文泰幫助救治了20只穿山甲。不過他創辦的中心最大的容量不到50只，而越南只有兩處這樣的地方可以照看穿山甲。這家中心的年預算僅爲9萬美元，他也沒什麼資源來擴大中心規模或增添人手。

Mr. Nguyen says he is not confident that attitudes will change in time to spare his country’s wildlife.

阮文泰表示，自己並不看好越南人能及時轉變觀念，讓野生動物免於災禍。

“The problem in Vietnam is that conservation is a new way of thinking,” he said. “Vietnamese people need to learn to take seriously what we have now. We need to take care of our own environment and wildlife if we want it to be around in the future.”

“越南的問題是，保護自然還是個新的概念，”他說。“越南人必須學會珍惜我們現在擁有的東西。如果我們想要它們將來還存在的話，我們必須保護好自己的環境和野生動物。”