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Poachers have killed one of the world’s largest elephants – a famed great tusker named Satao – in Tsavo East National Park in Kenya. Wildlife officials revealed that Satao, a giant elephant with tusks that nearly reached the ground, has died after being shot with poisoned arrows in late May. Conservationists describe how the bull elephant had intentionally hid in bushes to conceal his sweeping tusks, which were estimated to each weigh around 45kg. Satao’s death at the age of around 45 years is the latest in a massive upsurge of poaching of the mammals for their ivory across the African continent. Wildlife officials found Satao’s carcass was found with his face hacked off and weighty tusks removed. Richard Moller, of The Tsavo Trust, who had been monitoring Satao for several months confirmed that the elephant found dead on May 30 was indeed Satao, whom he called "an icon". "There is no doubt that Satao is dead, killed by an ivory poacher’s poisoned arrow to feed the seemingly insatiable demand for ivory in far-off countries," Mr Moller said. "A great life lost so that someone far away can have a trinket on their mantelpiece. "The loss of such an iconic elephant is the most visible and heart-rending tip of this iceberg, this tragedy that is unfolding across the continent," added Frank Pope of Save The Elephants in Nairobi. A soaring demand for ivory in a number of Asian nations has seen poaching hit levels that were last reached in the 1980s before the ivory trade was banned. The street value of elephant tusk is believed to exceed thousands of dollars per kilo and officials have acknowledged the role of organised crime in the poaching crisis. More than 20,000 African elephants were slaughtered in 2013, according to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The Kenya Wildlife Service has documented the killing of 97 elephants so far this year, but experts dispute the official figures. Dr Paula Kahumbu, who leads the Hands Off Our Elephants campaign, wrote that – based on the reports she has seen – “elephant poaching in Kenya is at least 10 times the official figures”. Earlier this month, police seized more than 200 elephant tusks in a warehouse in the port city of Mombasa, weighing over 2,000kg. |
在肯尼亞東察沃國家公園，偷獵者殺死一頭世界上最大的大象——有名的長牙大象薩韜（Satao）。 野生動物官員透露，有著幾乎長及地面長牙的薩韜，在五月底被毒箭射中后死亡。 自然資源保護(hù)學(xué)家描述了這頭公象是如何故意躲在灌木叢中來隱藏它的長象牙。它的長象牙每個約重45千克。 45歲薩韜的死亡只是非洲大陸上為了象牙而大肆獵殺大象現(xiàn)象中的最近一例。 野生動物官員發(fā)現(xiàn)薩韜的尸體發(fā)現(xiàn)時(shí)，它的臉已經(jīng)被劈開，重重的象牙被拔走了。 Tsavo基金會（Tsavo Trust）的理查茲·莫勒（Richars Moller）已經(jīng)觀察薩韜幾個月了，他證實(shí)這頭在5月30日被獵殺的大象就是薩韜。他稱薩韜為“一個符號”。 莫勒說：“毫無疑問，薩韜死了，被象牙偷獵者的毒箭給害死了，就是為了滿足來自那些遙遠(yuǎn)國家對象牙看起來貪得無厭的需求。 “一個偉大生命的消逝，就是為了某個人可以在壁爐上有個飾品。 “在內(nèi)羅畢拯救大象”活動的弗蘭克·波普（Frank Pope）補(bǔ)充道：“這一標(biāo)志性大象的死亡，只是這冰山上最明顯最令人心碎的一角。這樣的悲劇正席卷全大陸?！?/p> 一些亞洲國家對象牙的需求急劇增加，這就使得偷獵死灰復(fù)燃，重新達(dá)到了20世紀(jì)80年代象牙交易被禁之前的水平。 象牙的市場價(jià)格每公斤超過數(shù)千美元。官方承認(rèn)在偷獵危機(jī)中組織了犯罪活動。 根據(jù)瀕危野生動植物種國際貿(mào)易公約（CITES），在2013年，有2萬頭非洲象被獵殺。 在今年，肯尼亞野生動物保護(hù)局已經(jīng)記載有97頭大象被殺，但是專家對官方數(shù)據(jù)持懷疑態(tài)度。 領(lǐng)導(dǎo)“放開我們的大象”活動的寶拉·卡呼卜博士（Dr Paula Kahumbu）依據(jù)她所看到的新聞寫到：“在肯尼亞被獵殺大象的真正數(shù)量至少是官方數(shù)字的10倍。” 本月早些時(shí)候，警方在港口城市蒙巴薩的一個倉庫沒收了200多個象牙，總重量超過2000千克。 （譯者 孫喆 編輯 丹妮） 掃一掃，關(guān)注微博微信
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