CNN News:肯尼亚怒烧百吨“象牙塔”

We`ll start in Kenya. It took 10 days for officials there to build the 12 actual ivory towers that are now burning. They are both priceless and worthless.

今天的新闻，从肯尼亚开始。肯尼亚官员花了10天的时间，搭建了12座“象牙塔”。现在这些象牙塔全部被焚烧。这些象牙都是无价之宝。

The piles of tusks from 8,000 elephants, the horns for more than 340 rhinos, exotic animal skins, sandalwood bark, it`s all being intentionally burn in the largest torching of illegal wildlife products ever. Kenya`s president says his country has lost as many as 70 percent of its elements.

这堆象牙塔中包含8千只大象的象牙、 340多只犀牛角、还有珍奇动物的皮毛以及檀香树皮， 这是有史以来对非法捕杀的野生动物制品最大规模的焚烧。肯尼亚总统表示自己的国家已经失去了70%的大象。

Poaching, the illegal killing of animals, claims the life of an elephant every 15 minutes and a record number of rhinos were poached last year.

非法捕猎行为导致每15分钟，就有一头大象丧生。同时去年，犀牛的捕杀数量创历史新高。

Critics say destroying these materials will actually increase their value on the black market and increase poaching. But supporters say it hasn`t in the past and that the burns as symbolic as it is destructive.

评论人员称焚烧这些象牙、犀牛角等，实际上会增加这些物品在黑市上的价格，也会增加人们的猎杀行为。但是，支持人士说， 这些行为在过去不会发生，因为焚烧意味着毁灭。

The fire is crackling loudly, you can feel the warmth from far away, and the smoke is quickly filling the air.

火苗发出噼里啪啦的声音，在远处你就可以感受到热量，空气里到处弥漫着烟味。

In some parts of the world, this would be considered ludicrous. In fact, there`s been a lot of controversy surrounding this burn -- 105 tons of ivory, 1.35 tons of rhino horn literally going up in smoke. That`s an estimated black market value of $172 million. Now, no more.

有些国家认为这种行为非常可笑。事实上，对于这次的焚烧行为存在很多争议——105吨象牙，1.35吨犀牛角被焚烧。这些“象牙堆”黑市估价为1.72亿美元。现在，一切化为灰烬。

Kenya`s message to the world, this ivory is worthless. It has no value unless on a live animal.

肯尼亚在向世界表达，象牙是无价的。但是，如果没有鲜活的生命，这一切都没有价值。

It`s not the first born in Kenya`s history. Kenya first began burning ivory in 1989 and initially saw good results. Experts attribute the scourge in poaching to Asia`s voraciously growing appetite for ivory, particularly in China.

肯尼亚历史上曾发生过类似的事件，1989年肯尼亚首次烧毁象牙，最初，收效甚好。专家认为亚洲对象牙的贪婪的日益增长需求导致猎杀行为大量增加。

This is the biggest ivory burn in the world`s history. It`s left 12 piles of contraband, like these, blackened with smoke, in a fire due to last for more than a week. But Kenyans hope this will change perceptions forever.

这是世界历史上最大规模的象牙焚烧。留下了12堆非法违禁物品冒着浓烈的黑烟，火焰估计要持续1周多。但是肯尼亚人民希望这次行动可以永远改变大家的想法。

Robyn Kriel, CNN, Nairobi National Park, Kenya.

罗宾·克里尔，CNN记者于肯尼亚内罗毕国家公园报道。