[中国新闻] 中国的老虎问题

2007年6月19日中国自1993年开始实施虎类产品买卖的禁令，及时避免了野生老虎灭绝的可能性。但是现在这一大型猫科动物的生存繁殖再临困境。0 J2 b2 G' w1 y$ u4 ?
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6月3日，濒危野生动植物种国际贸易公约大会（CITES）在荷兰海牙举行。来自171个国家的代表团参加了这次大会。中国政府在会上承诺，继续推行严格限制虎骨贸易的政策。人在德国社区+ j/ f$ q) R# h  l/ O' m. u

记者电话采访了正在荷兰出席会议的野生物贸易研究委员会中国项目协调人徐宏发教授。他认为，野生老虎能生存到今天，要感谢中国政府采取了迅速、严厉而有效的措施。徐宏发教授对媒体表示：“任何形式的放弃或者放松中国虎贸易禁令，都可能将这种濒危的猫科物种推向灭绝的边缘。”- T0 Q# c- I/ ~7 l( d# b  V% W
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历史上中国曾是世界上虎制品需求最大的国家，虎骨曾被誉为治疗风湿的圣药。但是目前医学界已经证实，虎骨药与其它骨类药相比，并无独特疗效，完全可以用其他它骨类替代，在中国国家《药典》中也早已经将虎骨排除。这进一步证明了中国政府严格限制虎骨贸易的正确性和合理性。2 @; F  r) p* F' |* ]) k
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然而，事物都有两面性。如果只是单纯的限制虎骨贸易，而没有相应的配套措施，却可能会对保护老虎造成障碍。/ y5 Q7 r! m$ r

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广西养虎商“骑虎难下”人在德国社区2 J# u5 v% t6 n& D$ F* j
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很难想象，广西桂林的熊虎山庄有至少1300只老虎，而且种类齐全，包括东北虎、华南虎、孟加拉虎甚至少见的白虎等都可以看到。山庄的老板周伟森毫无疑问是世界上养虎最多的个人，但也可能是受养虎之伤最重的人，因为他现在实在不知道该拿这些老虎怎么办。
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熊虎山庄的宣传材料显示，为了养活这些老虎，周伟森已累计投入熊虎山庄3.6亿元人民币。但现在，负债已经高达5亿元。除了负债，他一无所有。由于付不起买牛肉的钱，他甚至一度有了逃跑的念头。

1988年，中国出台的《野生动物保护法》鼓励个人和集体驯养受保护的野生动物。从那时候起，周伟森开始从各地动物园引进12只老虎，尝试豢养。在亲属的支持下，他又四处购置70多只老虎，还从各地动物园挖到几名饲养专家。原来的他，希望能够通过开发与虎相关的产业，来维持整个山庄的日常运营。但是在1993年5月，鉴于中国野生虎已不足100只，国家有关部门发布了《关于禁止犀牛角和虎骨贸易的通知》，通知取缔“虎骨的一切贸易活动”，禁止虎骨入药。周伟森原来希望开发虎骨酒的想法，不可能实现了。* I+ G% y& g. I7 e4 a6 U- `
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2000年，周伟森养的老虎数量达到了900头。但这时他发现依靠门票和旅游开发带来的收入已经无法供给养虎的支出，因此周伟森不得不从1998年开始给老虎做节育手术来控制繁殖，以缓解经济压力。当年7月，周伟森还向广西林业厅申请在桂林猫儿山放归10只华南虎，但广西林业厅担心虎会伤人，申请未获批准。他开发的“补骨酒”，也受到了社会的质疑，人们认为他有销售虎骨酒的嫌疑。4 v* t. V/ p- l$ s
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陷入两难困境的周伟森认为，要解决眼前的难题，只有两条路可以走：要么国家出补贴，来承养这些老虎；要么就放开禁令，让他“以虎养虎”。

笼养虎何时回归野外？4 T* u, p8 e  i2 [
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东北虎林园养育着超过750只东北虎，是世界上最大的东北虎繁殖基地。东北虎林园总经理王立刚说：“近二十年前，我们这只有十几只虎。现在，在我们的努力下，繁育工作取得了重大的进展，每年都有100多只小虎出生。为了避免近亲繁殖，今年1月份，我们还开始了人工授精实验。技术的进步促进了老虎繁育，按照这个速度，今后10年内，中国的老虎也许能达到10万只。这是令人欣喜的事，毕竟种群数量在扩大。但是问题也是令人焦虑的，因为老虎的家园在野外，他们何时能够在野外自由生长？和周伟森一样，我们也负债累累，近三百名员工一直靠爱心在坚持。2006年是我们日子最好的一年，但也略有亏损。社会捐助的缺乏一直是个很大的问题。东北虎林园成立至今，社会的捐助只有5万元左右。我们推出的认养活动——一只老虎，儿童认养一年500元，成年人认养一年2000元，单位认养一年10000元——也响应者寥寥。我们的冷冻库里，储存了大量的死亡老虎的尸体，数量已经超过200只。”! s; u  [# Y4 w) t: I

原本威风凛凛的“山大王”现在却悲惨到“无家可归”，王立刚也非常希望国家能够给予他们一定的补贴，让他们能够继续养老虎，而且有能力让养殖虎回归野外。- g7 a$ e5 U# A2 d8 ^4 O3 ^8 K. q

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北京大学生命科学学院吕植教授指出：中国境内有分布的一共有4个虎亚种，分别是东北虎、华南虎、印支虎和孟加拉虎，但是目前能够确认的野外种群总数还不到50只。保护老虎种群不仅势在必行，而且迫在眉睫。7 A0 o( @2 o3 b+ j

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2007年5月13日凌晨，西双版纳自然保护区内首次发现印支虎活体，这说明中国野生虎种群的就地保护仍有一线希望，但是时间紧迫，必需抓住时机。除了在老虎的反盗猎、反贸易和栖息地保护上加大投入，对于在相关政策发布之前的形成的人工养殖虎，国家应该给予适当的补贴，并在合适的时机，通过野化训练，将其中一部分老虎放归山林，从而充实野生虎的种群数量。
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China prohibited the sale of tiger products in 1993, pulling the big cat back from possible extinction in the wild. But with the breeders now going out of business, Yongfeng Feng asks how government can support the tigers.人在德国社区- E: \" @% ]/ ?; X9 }* `* b/ @

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Delegations from the 171 member countries of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of (CITES) recently met in The Hague. At the meeting, which ended on Friday, the Chinese government promised to continue strictly enforcing its ban on the trade in tiger bones.

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In fact, the continued existence of tigers in the wild today is testament to the Chinese government’s decisive action, said professor Xu Hongfa, coordinator of TRAFFIC’s China programme, who attended the meeting. “Any relaxing of the Chinese ban on the tiger trade could push this endangered species to the brink of extinction.”

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Historically, the greatest demand for tiger products has come from China, where tiger bones are prized as a cure for rheumatism. But it is medically proven that tiger bones do not have any unique medicinal properties, and can be replaced with other varieties of bone. The Chinese pharmacopoeia erased tiger bones from its pages long ago, proving that the government is correct in enforcing its ban.

But there are two sides to every story, and if the blanket ban on the trade is not complemented by other measures, obstacles to protecting the tigers may arise.

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Tiger breeders in trouble

It is hard to imagine, but Xionghu Mountain Park in Guilin, in south China’s Guangxi province, is home to 1,300 tigers. You can find the Siberian tiger, South China tiger, Bengal tiger and even the rare white tiger at the park. The park’s director, Zhou Weisen, has raised so many tigers he must hold the world record. But he is suffering enormously as a result. Why? Because he doesn’t know what to do with them all.

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To raise his big cats, Zhou managed to attract 360 million yuan (US$47 million) in investment to the park. But now he is in debt to the tune of 500 million yuan (US$65.5 million). He has even considered abandoning the park; he cannot even afford the beef he needs to feed the tigers.

China’s 1988 Wild Animal Protection Law encouraged individuals and organisations to rear protected wild animals, and it was at this point Zhou decided to raise 12 tigers from zoos all over China. Supported by his family, he went on to purchase another 70 tigers, and brought in tiger-rearing experts from a number of zoos. He had hoped to earn money for the park’s upkeep by marketing tiger products. But when it was discovered in 1993 that there were less than 100 of the big cats living in the wild, the government released its notice on the ban of rhinoceros horn and tiger bones. This prohibited “all trading activities related to tiger bones,” which included the medicinal use of the animal’s bones. Zhou’s hopes of producing tiger bone wine were dashed.

In 2000, the number of tigers in the park had reached 900. But the cost of keeping all the tigers could not be covered by selling entrance tickets to tourists. Zhou started sterilising some of the animals in 1998, to relieve the financial pressure of their continued breeding. Zhou applied to the Guangxi Forestry Bureau the same year, asking permission to release 10 South China tigers on Mao’er Hill in Guilin. The bureau refused, for fear the animals might attack local people. And when Zhou started selling a medicinal “bone-strengthening wine”, people suspected it may have been made from tiger bones.

Zhou believes that there are only two possible solutions to his problem: the state can provide subsidies and allow him to keep the tigers, or it can lift the ban on tiger products, which would mean the park could earn its own money.

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Releasing tigers into the wild

The Siberian Tiger Forest Park, in northeast China’s Heilongjiang province, has raised over 750 tigers, the most anywhere in the world. “Twenty years ago we only had 10 or 20 tigers, but after a long effort, we made huge progress in our breeding programme, with over 100 tigers being born each year,” says the park’s general manager, Wang Ligang. “We started experimenting with artificial insemination in January, to prevent closely related animals mating with each other. Technological advances mean breeding can take place faster, and at current rates, there might be 100,000 tigers in China within 10 years. It’s good news that the numbers are increasing, but we have to think about getting tigers back into the wild, because that’s where they belong. We just keep asking ourselves: ‘when can we release them?’”

“We’ve also got the same problem with debts as Zhou Weisen. Almost 300 of our workers are working unpaid, out of the kindness of their hearts. Our best year financially was 2006, but even then we made a slight loss. A big problem is the lack of public donations: from when we opened the park until now, we only received 50,000 yuan (US$6,550) in total public donations. We run tiger adoption schemes, where a child can adopt a tiger for 500 yuan (US$66), an adult for 2,000 yuan (US$262) and a company for 10,000 yuan (US$1311), but this has not been very popular either. We already have 200 tiger corpses in cold storage.”

The once-mighty “king of the mountains” is now almost homeless. Wang hopes that the government will provide subsidies to enable him and his team to continue to rear the tigers, and one day release them into the wild.

Professor Lü Zhi, from the Peking University Institute of Life Sciences, says there are four different subspecies of tiger in China: the Siberian tiger, the South China tiger, the Indochinese tiger and the Bengal tiger – but the country’s total tiger population in the wild is less than 50. Saving the tiger is imperative, and there is no time to lose.

In the early morning of May 13, the first ever sighting of a living Indochinese tiger occurred in southwest China’s Xishuangbanna Nature Reserve. It is a ray of hope for the protection of tigers in the wild, but time is running out and action needs to be taken now. Investment must be increased, in anti-poaching measures, anti-tiger trade measures and the protection of tigers’ natural habitats. But government should also help increase the wild tiger population by subsidising those who started breeding tigers before the changes in policy on tiger products. They should also assist the breeders to release tigers into their natural habitat, once they have been trained to survive in the wild.

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中国与世界，环境危机大家谈

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[ 本帖最后由日月光于 2007-6-27 15:11 编辑 ]

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