英闻天下——534 Yao Ming Says No to Ivory and Rhino Horn

 　　As an ambassador to the wildlife conservation group WildAid, last year Yao Ming embarked¹ on a 10-day trip to Africa to shoot a documentary aimed at stopping the poaching of elephants and rhinos³.

 

　　During his journey Yao had close contact with the wild animals such as elephants, rhinos and leopards⁴.

 

　　He says he was shocked by the scenes of the carcasses.

 

　　"The pictures you see can't bring you the smell there and tell you my feeling when I saw an animal's carcass. I hope people can understand the problems facing Africa and have a glimpse of the beauty of Africa through this documentary. I also hope people will have an impulse to visit Africa after watching it. But if we don't do what we should do, maybe one day when we arrive there, Africa will no longer be what it should be."

 

　　Philip Muruthi, senior director of conservation science for African Wildlife Foundation says in 2012, more than 660 rhinos were killed in South Africa.

 

　　"Rhinos are not threatened by habitat loss. They are threatened primarily by poaching, our own greed for the rhino² horns. These markets in Asia and in countries like Asia, are poaching. I must say, really, we need to stop the killing⁵ and buying of rhino horns."

 

　　Poaching for ivory also kills more than 25,000 elephants a year in Africa and has reached levels only seen before the 1989 international ivory trade ban.

 

　　Kenyan researcher David Daballen of the conservation organization "Save the Elephant" says due to the demand for ivory, poaching has erupted all over Africa.

 

　　"For me and my team, it is heart-breaking to lose so many elephants that actually we know individually, and who for many years that we've been studying and have become a part of us. So I appeal to all of you, for your help. With every elephant that dies, we lose part of our culture and the culture of our children."

 

　　Although the international trade in ivory is banned, a one-off sale of stockpiled ivory in 2008 provided a legal market for ivory in China and Japan.

 

　　Peter Knights⁶, Executive Director of WildAid says the widespread abuse of the system to launder⁷ illegal ivory in China makes it the world's largest market for ivory.

 

　　"For example, people who have a permit will sell an item of ivory, they will keep the permit, and they will sell another item of ivory. And that can go on time and time again. So, the legal ivory trade enables the products of the poaching to be sold on the open market and it sends a very confused message to the public. And indeed our survey showed that 50 percent of people had no idea of how to distinguish illegal or legal ivory."

 

　　A survey conducted in November of 2012 in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou by the Chinese research company HorizonKey shows that 94 percent of the respondents agree the Chinese government should impose a ban on the ivory trade. The survey also shows that 95 percent agree the government should take stricter action to prevent use of rhino horns.

 

　　Peter Knights says he hopes China can take the leading role to help save elephants and rhinos.

 

　　"Since 1993, rhino horn has been banned in China. But there is certainly more that could be done to enforce those laws better. To give you some idea of how positive the action taken in 1993 was: Vietnam, which is a country one-fifteenth of the size of China, is currently a bigger market for rhino horn than China. So clearly there have been some positive moves in China but we do need to reinforce that message and we need to do more enforcement and have greater public awareness⁸ to stop the market."

 

　　Similar public awareness campaigns are planned for Vietnam later in 2013.

 

　　Peter Knights says it is effective to have celebrities⁹ like Yao Ming to help raise the public's awareness about wildlife protection.

 

　　Yao's previous WildAid campaign against consuming shark fin¹⁰ soup, backed by Chinese government and media, is credited with a reduction of 50 to 70 percent in consumption of shark fin in China.

1 embarked   

乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• We stood on the pier and watched as they embarked. 我们站在突码头上目送他们登船。
• She embarked on a discourse about the town's origins. 她开始讲本市的起源。

2 rhino   

n.犀牛，钱, 现金

参考例句：

• The rhino charged headlong towards us.犀牛急速地向我们冲来。
• They have driven the rhino to the edge of extinction.他们已经令犀牛濒临灭绝。

3 rhinos   

n.犀牛（rhino的复数形式）

参考例句：

• There are many reports of people taming and even training Indian rhinos. 有许多关于人们驯养甚至训练印度犀牛的记载。 来自辞典例句
• The rhinos had fed during the night in the rice fields of these villagers. 犀牛夜里在这些村民的庄稼地里也已吃饱了。 来自辞典例句

4 leopards   

n.豹( leopard的名词复数 )；本性难移

参考例句：

• Lions, tigers and leopards are all cats. 狮、虎和豹都是猫科动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• For example, airlines never ship leopards and canaries on the same flight. 例如，飞机上从来不会同时运送豹和金丝雀。 来自英语晨读30分（初三）

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 knights   

骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马

参考例句：

• stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
• He wove a fascinating tale of knights in shining armour. 他编了一个穿着明亮盔甲的骑士的迷人故事。

7 launder   

v.洗涤；洗黑钱（把来路可疑的钱弄得似乎合法）

参考例句：

• She wore a freshly laundered and starched white shirt.她穿一件刚刚浆洗熨烫过的白色衬衣。
• The gang launders the steal money through their chain of restaurants.这帮匪徒通过他们的连锁饭店洗赃款。

8 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

9 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

10 fin   

n.鳍；(飞机的)安定翼

参考例句：

• They swim using a small fin on their back.它们用背上的小鳍游动。
• The aircraft has a long tail fin.那架飞机有一个长长的尾翼。