香港活动人士抗议商家出售象牙

Protesters gathered Saturday outside a Hong Kong department store that had been prominently selling ivory products, part of an effort to publicize the city’s key role in the trade, which activists say contributes to the poaching of elephants.

周六，抗议者聚集在香港一个公然销售象牙制品的百货大楼外。这场抗议活动的目的在于向公众展示香港在象牙贸易中所扮演的角色。活动人士称，象牙贸易造成了偷猎大象的行为。

Over the past year, at least three Hong Kong stores have stopped selling ivory after complaints by local conservationists. Stamps and decorative items made from ivory are traditionally valued in China, but in recent years activists have worked to highlight the connection between the sale of such products and the threatened extinction of African elephants.

过去一年里，在当地环保人士投诉后，香港至少三家百货公司停止售卖象牙。中国人传统上认为象牙制成的印章和装饰品很贵重，但近年来，活动人士努力强调这类产品的销售，与非洲大象濒临灭绝之间存在联系。

The Chinese basketball star Yao Ming is the most visible face of that campaign. He traveled to Africa in 2012 and recently released a book and documentary on the severe risks faced by elephants and rhinos due to poaching for their tusks and horns.

在这场行动中，中国篮球明星姚明是最引人注目的代表。他于2012年前往非洲，并在前不久推出了一本书和相关纪录片，介绍盗取象牙和犀牛角的偷猎活动，给大象和犀牛带来的严峻威胁。

The three dozen or so protesters who gathered at the Chinese Goods Center in Hong Kong’s North Point neighborhood included a child in an elephant costume and drummers from Ghana, Togo, Cameroon and Nigeria. Tony Lui, a salesman at the store, said Saturday afternoon that the items on display were carved from mammoth tusk, which can legally be sold.

聚集在香港北角地区华丰国货(Chinese Goods Center)外的三十多名抗议者中，包括一名身穿大象道具服的孩子，以及多名来自加纳、多哥、喀麦隆和尼日利亚的鼓手。该百货大楼的售货员托尼·吕(Tony Lui)周六下午表示，陈列的货品都是由可合法交易的猛犸象牙雕刻而成。

Alex Hofford, a Hong Kong-based wildlife campaigner for the conservation group WildAid, said the store had removed its stock of ivory from display earlier in the day. A journalist who attempted to take a photo of the store’s license to sell ivory was briefly grabbed by a man suspected of working for an ivory wholesaler, Mr. Hofford said.

但环保组织野生救援(WildAid)驻香港的野生动物保护活动人士亚历克斯·霍福德(Alex Hofford)称，该百货大楼已在当天早些时候，撤下了陈列货品中的象牙。霍福德称，一名记者尝试拍下该百货大楼销售象牙制品的执照，但遭到一名男子唐突无礼的驱赶。那名男子可能供职于一家象牙批发商。

Conservationists say Hong Kong is a key point for the sale of ivory to visitors from mainland China. Trade in ivory was banned in 1989 under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, but products that were commercially available before then can still be sold. Activists accuse Hong Kong retailers of using that exemption as cover for selling freshly harvested ivory products, and they are pushing for a complete ban on all ivory sales to limit the potential for illegal trade.

环保人士称，在向中国内地游客销售象牙的过程中，香港是一个关键环节。1989年，按照《濒危野生动植物种国际贸易公约》(Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species)的规定，象牙贸易受到禁止，但该公约颁布前就在商业领域流通的象牙制品依然可以销售。活动人士指责，香港的零售商以这一例外为幌子，销售新取得的象牙制品。他们正在推动一项针对所有象牙贸易的全面禁令，从而限制潜在的非法贸易。

“The reason we were protesting outside that store was not to target that store in particular,” Mr. Hofford said. “They seemed to be a good target because they had ivory on display and it was easy for the public to see. What we’re actually trying to do is highlight Hong Kong’s illegal trade. We think the parallel illegal trade from poached ivory comes to Hong Kong and is laundered with existing stocks.”

“我们在那座百货大楼外抗议的原因，并不是专门针对那家商店，”霍福德说。“他们似乎是个不错的对象，因为他们把象牙陈列了出来，公众容易看到。我们实际上是想强调香港的非法贸易。我们认为，暗地里进行的非法贸易，让偷猎的象牙流入了香港，并且被人用现有的库存洗白了。”

In May, the Hong Kong government began destroying nearly 30 tons of confiscated ivory, which wildlife campaigners called an important step to emphasize the illegality of trafficking products made from elephant tusk.

今年5月，香港政府开始销毁近30吨收缴的象牙。野生动物保护活动人士称这是重要的一步，突显出贩运象牙制品是非法的。

But the Hong Kong authorities have resisted taking further action. The government has rejected a request to join the Elephant Protection Initiative, The South China Morning Post reported. Five African states that are home to elephants — Botswana, Chad, Ethiopia, Gabon and Tanzania — are part of that effort, which calls for steps to end to all ivory sales, the newspaper said.

但香港当局不愿采取进一步的行动。《南华早报》(The South China Morning Post)报道，香港政府拒绝了加入大象保护计划(Elephant Protection Initiative)的请求。该报称，大象保护计划呼吁采取行动，结束所有象牙贸易。发起该计划的包括境内生活着大象的五个非洲国家，分别是博茨瓦纳、乍得、埃塞俄比亚、加蓬和坦桑尼亚。