中国披露猎杀熊猫并肢解售卖案

Given the popularity of giant pandas as attractions both in China and in zoos around the world, it is easy to forget that they still face mortal threats.

大熊猫在中国和世界各地的公园都备受欢迎，这让人们很容易忘记它们仍然要面临死亡的威胁。

That fact was made clear this week when forestry officers in southwestern China revealed that they had arrested two brothers for killing one of the endangered animals, then trying to sell its meat and fur. A third man was arrested for purchasing panda meat, along with seven others who were implicated in trafficking parts of the protected animal, according to reports in the Chinese state-run news media.

这一点在近日的一桩案件中表露无遗，中国西南部的林业官员本周透露，他们已将两名杀害一只大熊猫并试图出售其肉和皮毛的两兄弟逮捕归案。中国官方新闻媒体称，另有一人因为购买这种濒危动物的肉而被捕，还有七人因为参与买卖受保护动物肢体器官而被捕。

The panda was reportedly killed in December by two brothers, surnamed Wang, in Yunnan Province. One of their sheep had been attacked and, with the help of a dog, they followed animal tracks leading from the sheep pen into woods, according to the China News Service.

据称，这只大熊猫于去年12月在云南省被两名王姓兄弟杀害。根据中国新闻网报道，在自家的羊被袭击后，他们靠狗的帮助，循着熊猫的脚印，从羊圈一直追踪到山林里。

The brothers told State Forestry Administration officers that they shot an unidentified animal in a tree, and only after it was dead discovered it was an adult female panda, the China News Service reported. Afterward, the men butchered the animal and began to try to sell its parts. They offered nearly 80 pounds of meat and four paws for 4,800 renminbi, or about $785. They found buyers for the meat and other parts in Yunnan and neighboring Sichuan Province, forestry officers told the state media. Investigators discovered about 20 pounds of panda meat in a freezer in Yunnan, and also found the animal’s hide, several bones and its gallbladder.

中国新闻网报道称，兄弟二人告诉国家林业局官员，他们开枪射击了树上的一只不明动物，在这只动物死后，才发现是只雌性成年大熊猫。后来，二人肢解了这只大熊猫，开始尝试售卖。他们以4800元的价格卖掉了大约35公斤的大熊猫肉及4只大熊猫脚掌。调查人员对官方媒体说，他们在云南和四川找到了熊猫肉及其他身体部分的买家。在云南的一个冰柜中发现了大约9公斤熊猫肉，还发现了熊猫的皮、一些骨头和胆囊。

Although pandas are a national symbol of China and one of the country’s most beloved animals, they were nearly wiped out by habitat destruction and poaching until preservation efforts began in the second half of the 20th century. China’s most recent survey of wild pandas, which began in 2011, found 1,864 of the animals living in the wild, an increase of 16.8 percent from the previous survey, in 2003, the WWF said in February. In addition, more than 300 pandas live in captivity.

熊猫是中国的象征、这个国家最受钟爱的动物之一，但在20世纪下半叶开始采取保护措施前，熊猫曾因为栖息地损毁和偷猎行为而濒临灭绝。世界野生动物基金会(WWF)在今年2月表示，中国从2011年开始进行了最新的野生熊猫调查，结果发现有1864只熊猫生活在野外，比2003年的调查数据增加了16.8%。除此之外，还有300多只圈养熊猫。

While the killing of the Yunnan panda is a blow to preservation efforts, it also reveals how the growing population is expanding its range. Although pandas were once found as far south as the northernmost parts of Vietnam and Myanmar, their modern range was thought to be restricted to a few mountainous areas of the Chinese provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu. The Yunnan poaching case led officials to invite experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the State Forestry Administration to investigate. They found signs of pandas living in northern Yunnan but said that further investigation was needed into whether they had spread from Sichuan or had been living undiscovered in Yunnan for generations, the China News Service reported.

虽然发生在云南的捕杀熊猫事件对保护行动是一次打击，但这也反映出数量不断增加的熊猫的活动范围在不断扩大。虽然熊猫的分布曾南及缅甸和越南最北部一带，但人们认为，熊猫在现代的活动范围仅限于中国四川、陕西及甘肃省的少数山区。云南的捕杀事件促使官员邀请中国科学院和国家林业局的专家进行调查。中国新闻社报道称，他们在云南北部发现了熊猫的踪迹，但他们表示需要进一步调查它们是从四川迁徙过来的，还是在云南隐秘地生活了几个世代。