2022年11月21日 VOA慢速英语：海龟作为宠物的需求增加，导致偷猎增加

A growing demand for turtles as pets in the United States, Asia, and Europe has led to a rise in poaching. Poaching means to catch or kill an animal illegally.
美国、亚洲和欧洲对海龟作为宠物的需求不断增长，导致偷猎活动增加。偷猎是指非法捕捉或杀死动物。
 
Wildlife trade experts believe the rise in poaching is adding to the worldwide drop in rare freshwater turtles and tortoises.
野生动物贸易专家认为，偷猎的增加导致全球稀有淡水龟和陆龟数量减少。
 
Such concerns have led to proposals to increase protection for freshwater turtles.
此类担忧导致人们提议加强对淡水龟的保护。
 
More than 180 nations have gathered this week in Panama as part of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES. The CITES meeting runs from November 14 to 25.
本周，作为《濒危野生动植物种国际贸易公约》(CITES) 的一部分，180 多个国家齐聚巴拿马. CITES 会议于 11 月 14 日至 25 日举行。
 
Exact numbers on the turtle trade, especially illegal trade, can be hard to find.
海龟贸易的确切数字，尤其是非法贸易，很难找到。
 
Tara Easter, a doctoral student at the University of Michigan, studies the trade. She looked at turtle trade data from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She estimates that the business export trade for mud turtles in the United States increased from 1,844 in 1999 to nearly 40,000 in 2017. And she estimated that the trade in musk turtles increased from 8,254 in 1999 to more than 281,000 in 2016.
密歇根大学的博士生塔拉·伊斯特 (Tara Easter) 研究贸易。她查看了美国鱼类和野生动物管理局的海龟贸易数据。她估计美国的泥龟商业出口贸易从 1999 年的 1,844 只增加到 2017 年的近 40,000 只。她估计麝香龟的贸易从 1999 年的 8,254 只增加到 2016 年的 281,000 多只。
 
Smuggling of turtles
海龟走私
 
The Collaborative to Combat the Illegal Trade in Turtles is a group of mostly state, federal and tribal biologists working to combat poaching of North American turtles. Since 2018, the group has documented at least 30 major illegal trafficking cases in 15 states. Some involved fewer than 50 turtles. Other cases involved several thousand turtles.
打击海龟非法贸易合作组织主要由州、联邦和部落生物学家组成，致力于打击北美海龟偷猎行为。自 2018 年以来，该组织在 15 个州记录了至少 30 起重大非法贩运案件。有些涉及不到 50 只海龟。其他案件涉及数千只海龟。

Earlier this year, a federal judge in North Carolina sentenced a man to 18 months in prison and fined him $25,000 for trafficking turtles in violation of the Lacey Act. The law bans trafficking in fish, wildlife, or plants that are illegally taken, held, transported, or sold.
今年早些时候，北卡罗来纳州的一名联邦法官因违反《雷斯法案》贩卖海龟而判处一名男子 18 个月监禁并罚款 25,000 美元。法律禁止贩运非法获取、持有、运输或出售的鱼类、野生动物或植物。
 
The man trafficked 722 eastern box turtles, 122 spotted turtles, and three wood turtles for markets in Asia. The man received more than $120,000 for the turtles, which have a value of $1.5 million in Asia.
这名男子为亚洲市场贩运了 722 只东方箱龟、122 只斑点龟和三只木龟。这名男子从这些海龟身上获得了超过 12 万美元的收入，这些海龟在亚洲的价值为 150 万美元。
Illegal trafficking
非法贩运
 
Freshwater turtles are among the world's most trafficked animals. They are targeted by criminal networks that connect with buyers on the internet. They transport the reptiles to black markets in Hong Kong and other places in Asia. From there, they are sold as pets, to collectors, and for breeding, food, and traditional medicine. In many countries, there are no laws to govern the trade.
淡水龟是世界上被贩运最多的动物之一。他们成为与互联网买家联系的犯罪网络的目标。他们将爬行动物运往香港和亚洲其他地方的黑市。从那里，它们被作为宠物出售给收藏家，并用于繁殖、食品和传统医药。在许多国家，没有法律来规范贸易。
 
The business can be highly profitable. Some kinds of turtles are sought out for their colorful or unusual appearance. They can be sold for thousands of dollars in Asia.
该业务可以赚取高额利润。某些种类的海龟因其色彩鲜艳或不寻常的外观而受到追捧。它们在亚洲可以卖到数千美元。
 
The trade adds to the threats turtles already face, including climate change, environment destruction and other animals eating their eggs.
贸易增加了海龟已经面临的威胁，包括气候变化、环境破坏和其他动物吃它们的蛋。
Experts say poachers are even more problematic because they target rare kinds of turtles and adult females.
专家表示，偷猎者问题更大，因为他们以稀有种类的海龟和成年雌性海龟为目标。
 
"The loss of large numbers of adults, especially females, can send turtles into a spiraling decline from which they cannot recover," said Dave Collins. He is director of North American turtle conservation for the Turtle Survival Alliance.
戴夫柯林斯说：“大量成年海龟，尤其是雌性海龟的流失，会使海龟陷入螺旋式下降，无法从中恢复过来。”他是海龟生存联盟的北美海龟保护主任。
 
Government protection
政府保护
 
The United States and several Latin American countries have proposed banning or limiting the trade in more than 20 turtle species. In their CITES proposal, the countries included data from Mexico that found nearly 20,000 were confiscated from 2010 to 2022. To confiscate means to take something away from someone to enforce laws or rules.
美国和几个拉美国家已提议禁止或限制贸易超过20种海龟。在他们的 CITES 提案中，这些国家包括了来自墨西哥的数据，这些数据发现从 2010 年到 2022 年有近 20,000 件被没收。没收意味着从某人那里拿走一些东西以执行法律或规则。
 
The illegal trade has also led governments to propose listing for the first time 42 turtle species under CITES – including North American musk turtles. A listing means traders will need permits to sell them internationally.
非法贸易还导致各国政府提议首次将 42 种海龟列入 CITES，其中包括北美麝香龟。上市意味着贸易商将需要许可证才能在国际上销售它们。
 
Matthew Strickler is with the U.S. Department of the Interior. He is heading the American group at the CITES meeting in Panama. He called the possible listings and increased protection for North American turtles "really, really important."
Matthew Strickler 在美国内政部工作。他领导美国小组参加在巴拿马举行的 CITES 会议。他称对北美海龟的可能上市和加强保护“真的非常重要”。
 
"We've seen this pattern of turtles being depleted in one place, and then poachers and traffickers and traders moving to another place," Strickler said. "Southeast Asia was depleted. They moved to Africa. Now, we see them moving to the Americas."
“我们已经看到这种海龟在一个地方被耗尽的模式，然后偷猎者、贩运者和贸易商转移到另一个地方，”斯特里克勒说。 “东南亚已经耗尽。他们搬到了非洲。现在，我们看到他们搬到了美洲。”