NAIROBI, Kenya — Finally, there’s some good news for elephants.

肯尼亚内罗毕——大象终于迎来了一些好消息。

The price of ivory in China, the world’s biggest market for elephant tusks¹, has fallen sharply, which may spell a reprieve³ from the intense poaching of the past decade.

中国是世界上最大的象牙市场，目前那里象牙的价格大幅下滑，可能会令过去十年来的严重偷猎得到缓解。

According to a report released on Wednesday by Save the Elephants, a respected wildlife group in Kenya, the price of ivory is less than half of what it was just three years ago, showing that demand is plummeting⁴.

据肯尼亚备受尊敬的野生动物保护组织“拯救大象”(Save the Elephants)周三发布的报告显示，目前象牙的价格不及三年前的一半，显示出需求大幅下滑。

Tougher economic times, a sustained advocacy campaign and China’s apparent commitment to shutting down its domestic ivory trade this year were the drivers of the change, elephant experts said.

大象专家说，这一改变是由日益低迷的经济，持续的宣传运动，以及中国对于今年内终止国内象牙贸易的明确承诺带来的。

“We must give credit to China for having done the right thing,” said Iain Douglas-Hamilton, president and founder⁵ of Save the Elephants. “There is still a long way to go to end the excessive killing⁶ of elephants for ivory, but there is now greater hope for the species.”

“我们必须赞扬中国做了正确的事，”拯救大象组织总裁兼创始人伊恩·道格拉斯-汉密尔顿(Iain Douglas-Hamilton)说。“要结束为获取象牙而对大象进行的过度杀戮，目前还有很长的路要走，但现在这个物种有了更大的希望。”

Elephants have been slaughtered⁷ by the thousands in recent years in what appeared to be an insatiable quest for ivory. Employing a wide range of tools, including helicopters, military-grade weaponry and poisoned pumpkins⁸, poachers have brought down herd⁹ after herd. The poachers have also killed scores of wildlife rangers¹⁰.

近年来，数千头大象遭到宰杀，显然是出于对象牙贪得无厌的追求。偷猎者使用各种工具屠杀了一个又一个象群，包括直升机、军用武器和下毒的南瓜。偷猎者还杀死了数十名野生动物保护员。

The tusks have been spirited out through a network of African gangs and corrupt¹¹ government officials. A vast majority of ivory ends up in China, where a rapidly growing middle class has coveted¹² it for bracelets¹³, combs, statuettes and other status symbols. That demand has pushed the price of ivory so high that the tusks from a single elephant could be worth more than $100,000. That, in turn, encouraged many hunters and traders in Africa to ruthlessly pursue more elephants.

通过非洲黑帮和腐败的政府官员网络，这些象牙被悄悄运出境外。绝大多数象牙最终都会来到中国，那里快速增长的中产阶级觊觎象牙手镯、梳子、雕像和其他身份标志。这种需求使得象牙的价格变得极高，一对象牙的价格可能超过10万美元。反过来这又鼓励非洲的许多猎人和贸易商无情地猎杀更多大象。

But the ivory boom may be over.

但象牙贸易繁荣可能已经结束。

According to Save the Elephants, the wholesale¹⁴ price of an elephant tusk² was $2,100 a kilogram in 2014. Last month, it was $730.

据“拯救大象”报道，2014年，象牙的批发价格为每公斤2100美元，上个月变成了730美元。

This may be a sign of how a sustained global advocacy campaign can actually work. For several years, celebrities¹⁵, political leaders and passionate¹⁶ wildlife advocates around the world have been urging China to put a stop to its ivory trade. In China, there are officially registered shops selling ivory and a thriving black market doing the same. Last December, China responded, announcing it was shutting down all ivory commerce by the end of 2017. It seems the price of ivory has dropped in anticipation¹⁷ of the ban; many analysts¹⁸ believe it will soon drop further.

这可能是持续的全球宣传运动最终生效的标志。几年来，世界各地的名流、政治领袖和热情的野生动物倡导者一直在敦促中国停止象牙贸易。在中国有得到正式注册的商店在出售象牙，繁荣的黑市也是如此。去年12月，中国做出了回应，宣布到2017年底终止所有的象牙贸易。似乎因为对这一禁令的预期，象牙的价格已经出现下跌；许多分析师认为很快还会出现进一步下跌。

Researchers for Save the Elephants said the Chinese ivory business seemed depressed¹⁹, with vendors²⁰ pessimistic about their future. Many are replacing ivory jewelry²¹ and trinkets with items made from alternative materials, like clamshell. According to the report, China plans to shut ivory factories at the end of this month and close all retail²² outlets²³ by the end of the year.

“拯救大象”的研究人员表示，中国象牙业似乎很低迷，卖家对他们的未来感到悲观。许多人正在用蚌壳等替代材料来制作牙雕珠宝和小饰物。据报道，中国计划在本月底关闭象牙作坊，并在年底之前关闭所有零售店。