(Featured image: Er Mao, the baby orangutan from Yunnan Wildlife Park, dressed in clothes in a shopping mall. Image from Miaopai.com, fair use)
Letter addressed to:
Mr Liu Zhuoxin
Director
Yunnan Wildlife Park
Chuanjin Road, Panlong District
Kunming, Yunnan
The People’s Republic of China
刘卓鑫
总经理
云南野生动物园
云南省昆明市盘龙区穿金路
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Dear Mr. Liu,
尊敬的刘卓鑫总经理，
We are writing on behalf of the Asia for Animals Coalition, representing international animal welfare organizations.
我谨代表由国际动物福利组织组成的亚洲动物联盟给您致函。
We express our deep concerns with regards to media articles showing a member of your staff with a young orangutan, dressed in clothes, in a shopping mall in Kunming. Taking orangutans into a public area causes great concern on the grounds of public safety, the promotion of inappropriate messages to the public, and the detrimental welfare of the individual animal.
近期我们从新闻媒体了解到, 云南野生动物园的员工带着穿衣服的红猩猩幼崽逛商场一事.对此, 我们深表遗憾。将红猩猩带入公共区域会给公众安全带来极大危害，传达不恰当的信息，以及伤害动物福利。
Members of the public have little idea of how to safely handle wild animals or the dangers they expose themselves to by being in such close proximity. This orangutan is being placed into a potentially stressful situation as he is forced to deal with strange faces and unusual noises that he is not accustomed to. He therefore has a higher likelihood of responding negatively to being surrounded and handled by strangers, and this could lead to a member of the public being bitten.
社会大众对于如何与野生动物安全接触、以及如新闻报道中的和动物的近距离接触可能带来的危害， 都不甚了解。让红猩猩与陌生人接触、将其置身于商场嘈杂的环境里，会给红猩猩带来巨大的心里压力。红猩猩可能会对被陌生人包围的环境做出极端的反应，这就可能导致动物伤人事件。
Wildlife parks must act as a centre for both conservation and public education. To inspire the public to care about the plight of endangered species such as orangutans, these animals should be seen in naturalistic environments, with opportunities for them to display their natural behaviours.
野生动物园应该成为野生动物保护教育的中心，鼓励公众对于包括红猩猩在内的濒危野生动物的关注。这些动物应该生活在仿自然化环境中，使其能够表达它们的自然行为。
Promoting close contact opportunities such as this conveys a message of animal use purely for entertainment and does nothing to promote respect and empathy for this species. Visitors are neither educated on the nature or behaviour of orangutans, nor on the need to protect and care for them and their wild counterparts.
鼓励与野生动物亲密接触，例如带红猩猩逛商场，传达了动物仅仅用于娱乐人的错误信息，根本无法让公众产生对它们的理解、尊重和同理心。游客无法学习到红猩猩的天性和自然行为，更不会了解到保护和关爱红猩猩的重要性。
This type of exploitation can also cause unnecessary stress and suffering for the animal concerned. Infant orangutans need to be within a species appropriate environment, where they can carry out their natural behaviors, preferably in the presence of their natural mothers. The bond between an infant orangutan and her mother is one of the strongest in nature. Infants will stay with their mothers for six to eight years, which is longer than any other single parent in the animal kingdom. The mother teaches her young where to find food, what and how to eat, how to avoid predators, and the technique for building a sleeping nest. Female orangutans are also known to “visit” their mothers until they reach the age of 15 or 16, demonstrating the extraordinary strength of the mother-infant bond. Such a prolonged association between mother and offspring is rare among mammals. Only humans have a more intensive relationship with their mothers.
这种形式的人与动物的接触，还可能给动物带来不必要的心里压力和痛苦。红猩猩幼崽需要处在适应其物种特征的环境，以表达它们的自然行为。最好是它们能与亲生母亲一起生活。红猩猩母子纽带关系，是自然界中最紧密的情感关系。，幼崽6到8岁之前都离不开母亲，，这个母子依赖关系在整个动物界中是为期最长的。红猩猩母亲会教会幼崽在何处觅食、什么可以吃、怎么吃、如何回避猎食者、以及如何筑巢。雌性黑猩猩在15-16岁依然会“拜访”自己的母亲，这表现出它们极强的感情纽带。在所有哺乳动物中，这么长时间的感情纽带是很罕见的。只有人类与母亲有着更紧密的联结。
Removing infants from their mothers and hand-rearing them for public interaction is therefore likely to be very stressful, where, these infants will be unable to learn the essential social skills they will require throughout their lives. Such disruption to this natural process may result in socially maladjusted animals, where they lack the skills for normal behaviour, and leading to difficulties in potential integration with other orangutans.
将动物幼崽与母亲分开进行人工育幼，并用于公众互动，都会给动物带来心里压力，它们无法学习到终身所需的社交技能。人为干预它们的成长过程还会使动物社交失调，缺乏正常行为所需的技能，导致其无法与其他的红猩猩个体合群。
On behalf of the undersigned organisations and the many millions of members they represent, we respectfully ask that you end such public interaction programmes, and provide conditions within the wildlife park which allow these orangutans to display their natural behaviours.
我谨代表如下机构，我们恳请您终止这种公众互动活动，为红猩猩提供一个能表达它们自然行为的圈养环境。
We seek your kind attention to address this issue.
希望您尽快解决这一问题。
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Sent on behalf of the following organisations:
谨代表以下组织致信：
- Animals Asia Foundation亚洲动物基金
- UNEP-GRASP 联合国类人猿生存合作组织
- Sumatran Orangutan Society 苏门答腊猩猩社会
- Serge Wich GRASP 科学委员会
- Sophie Hanson – Orangutan Foundation (OF) 猩猩基金会
- Ian Redmond OBE – Chairman of the Ape Alliance 猿联盟主任
- Ian Singleton – Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme (SOCP) 苏门答腊保护猩猩项目
- Conservation Through Public Health 通过公共卫生保护
- African Conservation Foundation 非洲保护基金会
- Bornean Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) 婆罗洲猩猩生存基金会
- Endangered Species International 国际濒危物种社会
- CHIMBO Foundation 几内亚比绍黑猩猩保护基金会
- International Animal Rescue 国际动物援救
- HUTAN – Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Programme 基纳巴唐岸猩猩保护项目
- Project to End Great Ape Slavery (PEGAS) 消除大猿奴隶制项目
- Gearing Up 4 Gorillas 为了大猩猩做好准备
- Barcelona Zoo 巴塞罗那动物园
- Liz Macfie, Anthony Rylands, Russell Mittermeier – SGA (IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group) 世界自然保护联盟灵长类动物专家组
- Great Ape TAG (EAZA) Core Group 大猿分类咨询组（欧洲动物园和水族馆协会）核心组
- Animal Guardians 动物守护者
- Animal People 动物公民
- ACRES 动物关注研究和教育社团
- Blue Cross of India 印度蓝十字会
- Change for Animals Foundation 为动物改变基金会
- Earth Island Institute 地球岛屿协会
- Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations 印度动物保护组织联盟
- Humane Society International 美国国际人道对待动物协会
- International Fund for Animal Welfare 国际爱护动物基金会
- Philippine Animal Welfare Society 菲律宾动物福利协会
- Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals 英国皇家防止虐待动物协会
- Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Hong Kong 香港爱护动物协会
- Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Sarawak 沙捞越防止虐待动物协会
- Orangutan Appeal UK – 英国猩猩号召组织
- Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Programme – Gunung Paung 猩猩保护项目
Copied to:
Mr Zheng
Secretary General
China Association of Zoological Gardens
No.6009, Building C, No.13 of San Lihe Road, Beijing City
The People’s Republic of China
100037
郑广大先生
中国动物园协会秘书长
地址：北京市三里河路13号C座6009号
邮编：100037
Mr Leng
Director
Yunnan Forestry Department
No 18, Fengyuan Road, Panlong District, Kunming, Yunnan
650204
The People’s Republic of China
冷华厅长
云南省林业厅
云南省昆明市盘龙区沣源路18号
邮编：650204
