(Featured image: young chimpanzee at a safari park in China. Courtesy Kim Bartlett – Animal People, Inc.)
Letter addressed to:
Xu Wei
Director
Hefei Wildlife Park
No. 600 Wangjiaxilu Road
Shushan District
Hefei
Anhui
The People’s Republic of China
许伟 园长
安徽省合肥市蜀山区望江西路600号
合肥野生动物园
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Dear Xu Wei,
尊敬的许伟园长，
We are writing on behalf of the Asia for Animals Coalition, representing international animal welfare organizations.
我谨代表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 video footage that we have received showing chimpanzees at the Hefei Wildlife Park smoking cigarettes.
最近我们看到一段合肥野生动物园黑猩猩吸烟的视频，对此，我们深表忧虑。
Smoking cigarettes is universally recognised as a serious health hazard. Allowing your chimpanzees to smoke is both detrimental to their health and promotes an inappropriate message to the public.
众所周知，吸烟严重威胁健康，黑猩猩吸烟也会严重损害他们的健康，并且向公众传达错误的信息。
A wildlife park 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 chimpanzees, 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保护教育的中心，以激发公众对于濒危野生动物的关注，例如对黑猩猩这样的物种的关切。圈养的野生动物应该生活仿自然的环境中，让它们有表达自然行为的条件。
Providing chimpanzees with cigarettes, and/or allowing visitors to give cigarettes to your chimpanzees 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 chimpanzees, nor of the need to protect and care for them and their wild counterparts.
让黑猩猩吸烟，以及/或者允许游客给黑猩猩提供香烟，给游客的是动物仅仅是供人娱乐的错误信息，根本无法让公众加深对它们的理解、尊重和同理心。游客也无法了解黑猩猩的自然习性和自然行为，更不会了解到保护和关爱野外黑猩猩的重要性。
It also presents a negative image of Chinese people within the international media and damages the international reputation of Hefei City.
更值得你们关注的是，容忍对黑猩猩的这种无礼行为的继续，通过国际媒体的报道，中国人民和合肥市的的形象都会受到损伤。
On behalf of the undersigned organisations and the many millions of members they represent, we respectfully ask that the chimpanzees are not provided with cigarettes and that visitors are prevented from giving the chimpanzees cigarettes in the future.
我谨代表如下机构，恳请您采取措施，禁止游客给黑猩猩提供香烟，并终止黑猩猩吸烟的行为。
We seek your kind attention to address this issue.
我诚挚恳请您能关注并解决这一问题。
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Sent on behalf of the following organisations:
谨代表以下组织致信：
- Animal Guardians 动物守护者
- Animal People 动物公民
- Animals Asia Foundation 亚洲动物基金
- 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 Animal Rescue 国际动物援救
- 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
Copied to:
请抄送：
Mr Zheng
Secretary General
China Association of Zoological Gardens
No.6009, Building C, No.13 of San Lihe Road, Beijing City
Tel: 010- 88082188
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
电话：010- 88082188
邮编：100037
Mr Cheng
Director
Anhui Forestry Department
No. 53 Wuwei Road, Hefei, Anhui
Tel: 0551-62633681
230001
程中才先生
安徽省林业厅厅长
地址：安徽省合肥市无为路53号
电话：0551-62633681
邮编：230001
