一年3萬個鐵絲網陷阱 亞洲虎面臨新威脅 | 環境資訊中心
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一年3萬個鐵絲網陷阱 亞洲虎面臨新威脅

2017年08月03日
摘譯自2017年7月29日ENS英國,劍橋報導;姜唯編譯;蔡麗伶審校

非法鐵絲網陷阱是亞洲虎和其他野生動物的生存危機之一。7月29日是世界老虎日,保育團體國際野生物貿易研究組織(TRAFFIC)和世界自然基金會(WWF)呼籲老虎棲地國政府遏止非法鐵絲網陷阱的使用。

這種陷阱很容易用腳踏車線等常見材料製作,能快速安裝,因此迅速遍佈亞洲森林。柬埔寨去年一整年就沒收超過3萬個捕獸陷阱,WWF表示,這還不包括沒有被發現的捕獸陷阱。

盜獵者常使用圖中的鐵絲網陷阱捕捉老虎及幼獸。圖片來源:WWF。

WWF野生動物執法專家Rohit Singh說:「我們無法確切知道每天野外增加了多少捕獸陷阱,威脅棲地中的動物。巡守員每年從亞洲保護區移除數十萬個致死捕獸陷阱,但這只是冰山一角。」

根據WWF針對印度、俄羅斯、尼泊爾、孟加拉和不丹所做的最新統計,目前大約有3900頭老虎生存在野外,前一次統計是2010年的3200頭。數目增加的原因包括加入調查的地區增加、調查技術進步,以及保育有所成效。

2010年聖彼得堡俄羅斯老虎峰會上將7月29日指定為世界老虎日,以呼籲大眾注意老虎野外數量大減的嚴重性。

老虎今日的活動範圍已縮水至2006年的6%,數量減少42%,被世界自然保育聯盟(IUCN)紅色名錄列為瀕危物種。2006年時,科學家認為13個棲地國都有老虎繁殖種群生存——孟加拉國、不丹、柬埔寨、中國、印度、印尼、寮國、馬來西亞、緬甸、尼泊爾、俄羅斯、泰國和越南——但現在只剩下八個棲地國有繁殖種群了。

雖然印度和尼泊爾多個地點老虎數量回穩,但在棲地已流失的地區,老虎數量已經回不去了。現在老虎、大象、雪豹和其他野生動物又要面臨新的危險——鐵絲網陷阱。

在非法野生動物貿易猖獗、亞洲野生動植物黑市需求的驅使下,越來越多盜獵者用鐵絲網陷阱捕捉老虎、大象、雪豹和其他野生動物。由於鐵絲網陷阱無差別捕捉動物,野生虎和牠們的獵物都可能受害,對野生虎族群形成雙重威脅。

TRAFFIC的全球傳播協調人Richard Thomas呼籲棲地國應加強查緝執法,遏止陷阱的濫用。

Tom Lee(CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

老虎。圖片來源:Tom Lee(CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Endangered Tigers Face New Enemy – Wire Snares
CAMBRIDGE, UK, July 29, 2017 (ENS)

Illegal wire snare traps are creating a survival crisis for tigers and other wildlife across Asia. Today, on Global Tiger Day, the conservation groups TRAFFIC and WWF are urging the governments of tiger range countries to crack down on the practice.

Over 30,000 snares were confiscated in Cambodia last year alone, and WWF says it is likely that many more remain undiscovered.

“It’s impossible to know how many snares are being set up every day, and threatening wildlife in these critical habitats,” said Rohit Singh, wildlife law enforcement expert at WWF. “Hundreds of thousands of deadly snares are removed by rangers from Asia’s protected areas annually, but this is just the tip of the iceberg.”

An estimated 3,900 tigers now survive in the wild. This recent revision from the 2010 estimate of 3,200 has come primarily from new surveys in India, Russia, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan, according to WWF.

The number is higher due to new areas being included in the national surveys, improved survey techniques as well as growth in the population from conservation efforts.

This day was designated as Global Tiger Day at the 2010 Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit in Russia. The goal is to call attention to the severe decline of tigers in the wild.

Listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, tigers today inhabit less than six percent of their historic range, with a 42 percent decline since 2006.

In 2006, scientists believed that breeding populations of tigers existed in all 13 tiger range countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam.

But they now know that breeding tiger populations occur in just eight of those countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Thailand and Russia.

Although several sites in India and Nepal have reported recent recoveries, population reductions may not be reversible in other areas where tiger habitat itself has been lost, the IUCN says.

And now tigers, elephants, leopards and other wildlife are facing the new danger of wire snare traps.

The snares are easy to make from widely available materials such as bicycle cable wires, and they are quick to set up. As a result, wire snares are deadly traps that are quickly becoming the plague of Asia’s forests.

Driven by the growing illegal wildlife trade and demand for illegal wildlife products across Asia, more and more poachers are using snares to trap wild tigers, elephants, leopards and other wildlife.

As snares can maim or kill any animal that activates them, wild tigers are dealt a double blow, as the prey animals they need to survive and reproduce are reduced also.

“Snares are a commonly-used method of tiger poaching in Asia’s forests. They are especially dangerous because they kill at random – so all manner of wildlife is at risk. It is imperative that tiger range countries scale up their enforcement efforts to curb this crisis,” said TRAFFIC’s Global Communications Co-ordinator Richard Thomas. TRAFFIC is a strategic alliance of WWF and the IUCN.

※ 全文及圖片詳見:ENS

※ 本文與 行政院農業委員會 林務局  合作刊登

作者

蔡麗伶(LiLing Barricman)

In my healing journey and learning to attain the breath awareness, I become aware of the reality that all the creatures of the world are breathing the same breath. Take action, here and now. From my physical being to the every corner of this out of balance's planet.

 

姜唯

如果有一件事是重要的,如果能為孩子實現一個願望,那就是人類與大自然和諧共存。