Historic ivory burn covers the sky in smoke and ash 歷史性的象牙焚燒將讓天空被煙和灰燼給覆蓋
Twelve
ivory towers burned in Kenya on Saturday, sending thick plumes of ash and smoke
over Nairobi National Park as elephant and rhino tusks smoldered.
星期六，有十二座象牙塔在肯亞被燒燬，象牙和犀牛角在悶燒的同時，大量的灰燼和煙覆蓋了整個奈洛比國家公園。
A rainy
Saturday afternoon brought together heads of state from several African nations
and hundreds of onlookers to watch Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta set fire to
over $172 million worth of illicit wildlife goods.
下著雨的星期六下午，聚集了多個非洲國家的元首和數百個旁觀者，看著肯亞總統烏胡魯·肯亞塔放火燒了總價值超過17億2千萬美元的非法野生商品。
A somber
mood took over the crowd as the event began. They listened to the gust of wind
feeding the flames, and the crackle of burning ivory, rhino horn and other
items. Bright red embers bloomed inside the 10-foot high by 20-foot wide pyres,
turning the coveted white ivory tusks to nothing more than charred animal
remains.
隨著活動的開始，憂鬱的氛圍渲染了圍觀的群眾，他們聆聽著陣陣狂風助長火堆的聲音以及象牙、犀牛角和其他物件燃燒的輕微爆裂聲，明亮火紅的餘火在10英尺高20英尺寬的大柴堆中不斷冒出，將人們夢寐以求的白色象牙化為焦黑的動物遺骸。
This was
the most significant demonstration against poaching in the region and the
largest burn of illegal wildlife products in history.
這是該地區最具意義的反盜獵示威活動，同時也是歷史上焚燒最多違法野生商品的一次。
"The
rising value of elephant ivory trade, illegally on the international market,
has resulted in a massacre in the rainforest of Africa," Kenyan President
Uhuru Kenyatta told the crowd. "In 10 years in central Africa we have lost
as many as 70% of the elephants. The elephant, as has been said, is an iconic
symbol of our country. Unless we take action now we risk losing this magnificent
animal."
肯亞總統烏胡魯·肯亞塔對著群眾喊話：「在國際市場上從事違法象牙交易的價值攀升，導致非洲雨林發生大量屠殺。在十年內，在中非我們已經失去了百分之70這麼多的大象，大象一直以來都被當作是我們國家的標誌性的象徵，除非我們現在採取行動，要不然我們可能會有失去這個宏偉動物的風險。」
It took
Kenya's Wildlife Services 10 days to build the crematorium that contained the
105 tons of elephant ivory, 1.35 tons of rhino horn, exotic animal skins and
other products such as sandalwood and medicinal bark. This was Kenya's fourth
such burn in a practice that goes back to 1989 -- an idea hatched to combat the
worsening poaching crisis.
肯亞野生生物服務署花了10天才建造出能夠容納105頓象牙、1.35頓犀牛角、奇特動物毛皮和其他像是檀香木和藥用樹皮等的焚化廠，這是肯亞第四次像這樣進行焚燒，這個活動的起源要追朔到1989年，一個為了對抗日漸嚴重的盜獵危機而誕生的想法。
Priceless and worthless at the same time
無價，同時也毫無價值
The tusks
alone -- from about 8,000 elephants -- would be worth more than $105 million on
the black market, according to wildlife trade expert Esmond Bradley Martin. The
rhino horn, from 343 animals, would be worth more than $67 million.
根據野生動物交易專家Esmond Bradley Martin所述，光是來自8000頭大象的象牙在黑市的價值就超過一億五百萬美金，來自343頭犀牛的犀牛角價值就超過六千七百萬美金。
That's
one and a half times more than Kenya spends on its environmental and natural
resources agency every year.
這金額是肯亞每年花費在其環境與自然環境資源機構的1.5倍。
But the
Kenyans say that the stockpile is not valuable -- it's worthless.
"From
a Kenyan perspective, we're not watching any money go up in smoke," Kenya
Wildlife Service Director General Kitili Mbathi said. "The only value of
the ivory is tusks on a live elephant."
但是肯亞人表示那一對東西毫無價值、一無是處，肯亞野生生物服務署署長Kitili Mbathi表示：「對肯亞人來說，我們所看到的並不是大把的錢化為烏有，象牙只有長在活的大象身上時才有價值。」
Mbathi,
who oversaw the burn, explained how a fuel pumping system that combined
kerosene and diesel had been built to aid the combustion of the pyres, which
would take about a week to completely burn.
監督整個焚燒活動的Mbathi解釋融合煤油和柴油的燃料抽泵系統是如何幫助整個柴堆的燃燒，整個過程大概要花上一個星期才能夠完全燃燒完畢。
Critics
of the burn worry the destruction of this stockpile will increase the price of
ivory in the black market and encourage more poaching.
這次焚燒活動的反對者擔心，把這些東西摧毀將會導致黑市象牙價值攀升並讓盜獵情形更加猖獗。
"That
is an ignorant idea," renowned conservationist Richard Leakey told the
crowd at the burn ceremony. "We did it before and prices went from $300
down to $5 within three months of that fire. It is quite shameful the slaughter
of these wild species in a world that seems hell bent on destroying itself
anyway -- let's give our support to nature and the endangered species."
著名的保育人士理查德·李奇在焚燒活動的典禮上告訴群眾：「這是一個無知的想法，我們之前也做過同樣的事情，而價格在那場大火之後三個月內從300塊美金掉到5塊美金，讓人感到羞恥的是，當世界上的人們在屠殺這些世界上的野生物種時，就好像下定決心要自我摧毀一樣，讓我們一起為大自然和瀕臨絕種的物種出一份力。」
Sending a public message 對大眾喊話
Elephants
are under serious threat. Every 15 minutes, an elephant is killed for its tusks. And some 1,338 rhinos were poached in Africa last year, a record number and the
sixth year in a row that the number of poaching incidents has increased.
大象們正受大巨大的威脅，每十五分鐘就有人為了象牙而殺害一頭大象，去年在非洲有1,338頭犀牛被違法獵殺，這個數字是歷史新高，而且盜獵事件的數量已經連續六年成長。
"Today's
event allows Kenya to send a very public message to the international community
and here in Kenya, that it does not tolerate and it will not tolerate the
illegal trade in wildlife," John Scanlon, spokesman for the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), told the crowd.
瀕臨絕種野生動植物國際貿易公約(CITES)發言人John Scanlon告訴群眾：「今日的活動是肯亞要公開的向國際和肯亞社會傳達一個訊息，那就是，不管是現在或是將來，違法交易野生生物都不會再被容忍。」
"Not
only it has a devastating impact on the animal themselves and their ecosystem
but it has an impact on security, on livelihoods and on economy," said
Scanlon.
「這樣的行為不只會對動物和牠們的生態系統造成毀滅性的影響，同時也會影響社會安全、人們的生計和經濟。」
Kenya's
tourism, based mostly around its wildlife, makes up about 12% of the country's
GDP. Over its life, a live elephant generates 76 times more in tourism
revenue than it does for its ivory, according to the David
Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, an elephant rescue and rehabilitation group.
肯亞的旅遊業大多是以他們的野生生態為基礎，而營收占了整個國家GDP的百分之12，根據大衛．謝爾瑞克野生動物基金會的資訊（一個致力于拯救並重建大象的組織。），一隻大象的一生中，象牙創造的收益是旅遊業收益的76倍。
Back at
Nairobi National Park, the clouds of smoke have turned the sky a fetid gray
shade of green. Organizers hope this image, and stigma, will be burned into
memory forever.
回到奈洛比國家公園，煙已將天空染成充滿惡臭的灰綠色，發起人希望這次要傳達的意念和恥辱能夠永遠烙印在記憶中。
