如果看過《葫蘆娃》，你可能還對那個動畫中被害死的善良穿山甲有印象。這種單純可愛的生物在現實中的生存狀況更加可憐，世界上的8種穿山甲全部處于瀕臨滅絕的狀態。

By Rose Bolger

Do you know what a pangolin is? An instrument, guessed one friend. Term for a baby panda, perhaps? A tropical fruit grown in Indonesia, was another oddly specific response.
你知道穿山甲是什么嗎?“樂器”，一位朋友猜道。又或許是熊貓寶寶的別稱？還有一個一本正經而令人啞然失笑的回答是: 一種生長在印度尼西亞的熱帶水果。

I've been conducting this haphazard survey ever since I came across the pangolin in a story about an illegal wild animal trafficking operation.
自從偶然在一個關于非法販賣野生動物的新聞中了解穿山甲后，我就時不時地進行這樣的小調查。

Whilst having a low profile in the general public, it seems the pangolin is well known in the black market trade in dead or live animals. That's right, the pangolin is an animal. Imagine an aardvark with an even more impressive suit of armor and an endearing habit of curling up into a tight ball.
穿山甲盡管不被大眾熟知，但卻是黑市交易的“明星”，人們在這里買賣活動物或死動物。沒錯，穿山甲是一種動物，想象一下，它型似非洲食蟻獸，鎧甲卻更為引人注目，還喜歡蜷縮成一團球，十分可愛。

The very scales designed to protect it from predators are exactly what has made it a target for illegal hunting. Their defense mechanism of rolling up in a ball may be enough to confuse lions, but, in a cruel twist, it makes it easy for hunters to simply pick them up.
這種用于抵御捕食者的鱗片恰恰使它們成為了非法捕獵者的目標。蜷縮成球的防御機制用來迷惑獅子或許足矣，但在關鍵時刻，卻使捕獵者很容易一眼就認出它們。

All eight variations of the pangolin from Asia and Africa are now among the most endangered mammals. Wildlife organizations estimate 100,000 pangolins are captured each year, fetching up to $3000 a kilo. Pangolin meat is a delicacy and their tough scales are either turned into decoration or dried for use in traditional Chinese medicine. So why hasn't anyone who doesn't want to eat them know about them?
穿山甲一共有八大種類，分布在亞洲和非洲，現已成為最瀕危哺乳動物之一。據野生動物組織估計，每年約有10萬只穿山甲被捕，平均一公斤售價高達3000美元。穿山甲肉可做成美味佳肴，其堅硬的鎧甲既可用于裝飾又可晾干制作中藥。那么問題來了，為什么無意食用穿山甲的公眾都不知道這種動物呢?

Clearly, this scaly critter needs better PR.
答案很明顯，這種帶有鱗片的動物需要更好的宣傳。

Hampering their cause is that you're unlikely to see a pangolin in a zoo. No wild animal enjoys being caged, but it seems the pangolin really can't hack it, becoming stressed, depressed and dying early. It's hard to mount a successful campaign for an animal that 99 percent of the population will never see in real life, let alone be able to have their picture taken with one.
阻礙公眾了解這種動物的原因之一是穿山甲不大可能出現在動物園。沒有任何野生動物樂意被關在籠子里，但似乎穿山甲尤其不適合圈養，圈養的穿山甲會變得緊張，精神不振，最后早早死去。對于這種99%的普通人在現實生活中都從未見過的動物而言，更不必說能和這種動物合張影，因此，想要成功喚起人們對它的保護太難了。

Perhaps part of the reason they don't fare well in captivity is because not much is known about them. We know they eat ants, but their diet may include all kinds of other bugs. We don't know how long they live in the wild or much about their breeding habits. They are mammals of mystery.
或許穿山甲不適合人工飼養的原因還在于人們并不熟悉它的習性。我們知道穿山甲吃螞蟻，但它們的食物可能也包含其它蟲類。我們不知道它們在野外的壽命有多長，對它們的繁殖習慣也不甚了解。這是一種神秘的哺乳動物。

It's a vicious cycle, without much love for the creature, there's little pressure to throw precious scientific research funding dollars at it.
如此一來就陷入了惡性循環：人們對穿山甲了解甚少，因此沒有過多關愛，進而使得人們對此投入的科研基金也甚少。

They haven't been completely forgotten, though. There are admirable and hardworking people dedicated to shutting down the illegal pangolin trade and running rehabilitation centers in Asia on a shoestring budget. There is World Pangolin Day and you can buy a "save pangolins" T-shirt online.
但穿山甲并未徹底被大眾遺忘。一直以來，不乏有令人欽佩的敬業人士致力于減少非法穿山甲交易，用自己的微薄之力建立亞洲穿山甲康復中心；現在有“世界穿山甲日”；你可以在網上購買印有“救救穿山甲”字樣的T恤衫。

But without a significant increase in support, these mammals of mystery are at serious risk of disappearing entirely before most people even know they exist.
但是倘若人類不加大保護力度，那么在大部分公眾知道世界上有穿山甲這種動物之前，這種神秘的哺乳動物就將面臨滅頂之災。

It may not be as cute and cuddly as a panda, or as strong as a rhino, but it only takes an online image search to see this peculiar creature has potential. They're shy, non-aggressive, and their bizarre scaly shell has earnt them cute nicknames like "walking pinecone" and "modern day dinosaur". And I haven't even mentioned their super sticky tongue can be longer than their body, ideal for scooping up ants.
穿山甲或許不如熊貓那般可愛，讓人忍不住擁抱，也不如犀牛那般強壯，但你只需上網搜一下它們的圖片，就可以看到這種奇特生物也很不錯。它們很害羞，性情溫和，身上奇特的鱗片狀鎧甲讓它們獲得了諸如“行走的松果”、“現代恐龍”等昵稱。對了，我還沒提到穿山甲超級黏的舌頭呢，它們的舌頭比身體還長，是舔食螞蟻的絕好工具。

So now the panda is off the endangered list, let's dedicate some of our animal love, and social media feed space, to this bizarre, misunderstood creature.
如今，經過人類多年保護措施，熊貓已不再屬于瀕危物種，讓我們人人奉獻出一點對動物的關愛，利用社交媒體的宣傳，多多關注這一奇特的、飽受誤解的動物。

英文來源：“CHINA DAILY”微信公眾號
翻譯：中國日報網iNews
編審：丹妮 董靜
音頻編輯：焦潔

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Rose Bolger joined China Daily at the start of November 2016 as a copy editor at the website. Having left her home in the small Australian city, Hobart, to move to one of the biggest cities in the world, she's looking forward to exploring Beijing. During her 10-year career as a journalist she has worked for newspapers, radio and television networks.