【○隻字片羽○雪泥鴻爪○】

○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○

既然有緣到此一訪，
何妨放鬆一下妳(你)的心緒，
歇一歇妳(你)的腳步，

讓我陪妳(你)喝一杯香醇的咖啡吧！

這裡是一個完全開放的交心空間，
躺在綠意漾然的草原上，望著晴空的藍天，
白雲和微風嬉鬧著，無拘無束的赤著腳，
可以輕輕鬆鬆的道出心中情。

天馬行空的釋放著胸懷，緊緊擁抱著彼此的情緒。
共同分享著彼此悲歡離合的酸甜苦辣。
互相激勵，互相撫慰，互相提攜，
一齊向前邁進。

也因為有妳(你)的來訪，我們認識了。
請讓我能擁有機會回拜於妳(你)空間的機會。
謝謝妳(你)！

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2019年4月11日星期四

Seizure of 14 Tons of Pangolin Scales in Singapore Sets a Dismal Record

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/08/world/asia/pangolin-singapore-seizure-poaching.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&fbclid=IwAR1lSAIqg1zqmGvX3EtObCNu602yqrV5_Nb2NucDUPv2Qy2FOvAG_Fn_S54

Seizure of 14 Tons of Pangolin Scales in Singapore Sets a Dismal Record

Sacks containing pangolin scales that were seized last week in Singapore.CreditNational Parks Board Singapore, via Reuters

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Sacks containing pangolin scales that were seized last week in Singapore.CreditCreditNational Parks Board Singapore, via Reuters

By Tiffany May

April 8, 2019

Leer en español

HONG KONG — Singapore has discovered more than 14 tons of pangolin scales in what conservation specialists called the largest such seizure of a single shipment worldwide, highlighting the stubbornness of the illegal trade of the scaly anteater.

Roughly 36,000 pangolins were believed to have been killed for the shipment, according to Paul Thomson, an official with the Pangolin Specialist Group, an organization belonging to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The group called it the biggest seizure of pangolin scales on record.

“The news of this record-shattering seizure is deeply alarming and underscores the fact that pangolins are facing a crisis,” Mr. Thomson said of the seizure, which took place last Wednesday. “If we don’t stop the illegal wildlife trade, pangolins face the risk of going extinct.”

Pangolins are believed to be the most frequently illegally trafficked mammal in the world, with an estimated 300 of them poached every day on average. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has declared all eight species as “threatened with extinction” since 2014, while two species are critically endangered.

Specialists say that the pangolin’s defense against predators, which is to curl itself into a ball, has made it an easy target for hunters.

Singaporean customs officials and the country’s national parks board said in a statement that the scales, which had been shipped from Nigeria, were headed to Vietnam, home to the second-most lucrative black market for pangolin scales, after China.

In Vietnam, many see pangolin meat as a luxury that conveys social status and health benefits, according to a survey conducted by WildAid in 2015.

In China, about 70 percent of people surveyed by WildAid believed that the pangolin could cure ailments ranging from rheumatism to skin diseases; consumers often drink it in wine or in powder form as part of traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions.

A pangolin rescued from poachers in South Africa. Pangolins are believed to be the most frequently illegally trafficked mammals in the world, with an estimated 300 of them poached every day on average.CreditDenis Farrell/Associated Press

International laws forbid trafficking of all pangolin species, and techniques such as fingerprint forensics seek to deter poachers, but recent seizures have shown that the pangolin is still heavily trafficked around the world.

In February, 33 tons of pangolin meat were seized in two processing facilities in Malaysia, according to Traffic, a wildlife conservation group. Earlier that month, the Hong Kong authorities intercepted a nine-ton shipment of pangolin scales and a thousand elephant tusks.

When Singaporean officials intercepted the pangolin scale shipment last Wednesday, they also found nearly 400 pounds of carved ivory, officials said.

A version of this article appears in print on April 9, 2019, on Page A13 of the New York edition with the headline: 14 Tons of Pangolin Scales Are Intercepted. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe