Living With Pandas1与大熊猫为邻

邵叶凡/文　孟洁冰/译

Gu Xiang has lived on China Panda Avenue for 15 years， but he’s never come close to China’s national animal. “I was born and raised in Sichuan， but I’ve never even seen panda poop，” the 35-year-old tells TWOC.

古翔在中国熊猫大道生活了15 年，但他从来没遇到过国宝大熊猫。“我生在四川，长在四川，可我连熊猫便便都从来没见过。”这位35岁的男子告诉《汉语世界》。

That hasn’t stopped the black and white， bamboo-munching bears from leaving their mark on his village， Maoshui—not just by lending their name to roads. In fact， Maoshui and its residents were moved to their current location in part to aide the conservation of giant pandas， most of which live in Sichuan province in China’s southwest. The village used to be deep in the mountains， and pandas would even occasionally roam around the neighborhood， Gu claims.

这不妨碍以竹子为食、黑白毛色的熊猫在他生活的冒水村留下自己的印记——不仅仅是用熊猫给道路来命名。实际上，冒水村和村里的居民搬迁到现在的安置点，也是为了保护大熊猫——大熊猫大多生活在中国西南部的四川省。古翔说，这个村子以前位于大山深处，熊猫偶尔会在附近转悠。

But since the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008， residents have been moved to a newly built settlement sandwiched between Wolong National Nature Reserve and Sichuan Fengtongzhai National Nature Reserve， partly to make more space for pandas in their habitat. Though tourists now flock to the panda-themed town， where Gu owns a restaurant， the bears never turn up here.

不過，自2008年汶川地震以后，居民们搬迁到位于卧龙国家级自然保护区和四川蜂桶寨国家级自然保护区之间新建的安置点，也是为了给熊猫的栖息地腾出更多的空间。虽然如今游客纷纷涌入这个熊猫主题小镇（古翔在镇上开了一家餐馆），但是熊猫从未在这里露过面。

In Sichuan， one of the most biodiverse provinces in China， protecting the habitat of the country’s most famous animal means altering the lives of thousands of people who call the area home.

四川是中国生物多样性最丰富的省份之一，在这里，保护中国最出名动物的栖息地意味着要改变成千上万以此为家的人的生活。

Though giant pandas only became widely known outside of China in the 19th century， there are many references to the bears in Chinese history. The first known records date back to the Zhou dynasty （1046–256 BCE）， when they were described as “貔 （wild beasts）” in the Classic of Poetry and as “白罴 （white beasts）” in the Book of Documents. They were also recorded in ancient literature like The Classic of Mountains and Seas from the Han dynasty （206 BCE–220 CE）.

尽管大熊猫到了19世纪才在中国以外的地区广为人知，在中国历史上有很多关于熊猫的记载。已知最早的记载可以追溯到周朝（公元前1046—前256），当时熊猫在《诗经》中称为“貔”，在《尚书》中称为“白罴”。在汉代（公元前206—公元220）的《山海经》等古代文献中也有关于熊猫的记载。

French missionary Jean Pierre Armand David2 is credited with bringing the panda to wider international attention when he brought a specimen back to Eur- ope in 1869. Soon after， Europeans and Americans began hunting the animal， with the help of locals—Theodore Roosevelt’s sons famously killed one. Deforestation and construction also destroyed much of the giant panda’s habitat， and formed barriers in its territory that left many populations isolated and reduced their chances of finding a mate.

1869年，法国传教士谭卫道把一只熊猫标本带回了欧洲，使熊猫受到国际社会更为广泛的关注。不久之后，欧洲人和美国人开始在当地人的帮助下猎杀大熊猫——西奥多·罗斯福的两个儿子以捕杀一只熊猫而出名。森林砍伐和建设施工也破坏了大量大熊猫栖息地，在熊猫的领地上形成了屏障，把许多熊猫族群隔离开来，减少了熊猫找到配偶的机会。

The panda population decreased quickly， and it wasn’t until 1962 that China’s State Council finally announced a ban on hunting them. Wolong and subsequent reserves were established to reduce the impact of human activity on the pandas， restricting activities including logging and farming， and many locals moved out of the reserves to new homes.

熊猫的数量迅速减少，直到1962年，中国国务院最终下令禁止猎捕大熊猫。卧龙保护区和随后几个保护区的建立是为了减少人类活动对大熊猫的影响，限制伐木和耕作等活动。许多当地人从保护区搬到了新的家园。

People out， pandas in

村民出，熊猫入

As of 2019， Sichuan has 95 nature reserves， covering 113，500 square kilometers—nearly a quarter of the province.

截至 2019 年，四川共有 95 个自然保护区，面积达 11.35 万平方公里，約占全省面积的四分之一。

“Ecological migration，” as authorities call the movement of residents out of conservation areas， has been a key pillar of panda protection methods in Sichuan. In 1983， for example， 800 residents moved out of the Tangjiahe National Nature Reserve and into new villages built outside the park. The reserve prohibits logging， farming， and hunting， while locals can no longer forage in the mountains.

有关部门把居民迁出保护区的做法称为“生态移民”，它一直是四川大熊猫保护工作的重要组成部分。例如，1983年，800名居民迁出唐家河国家级自然保护区，搬到保护区外新建的村庄。保护区禁止伐木、耕作和狩猎，当地居民也不能再进山采摘。

The local government and NGOs try to bring area residents （which include many ethnic Tibetans and Qiang） into conservation efforts： employing them as rangers， for example， or training them to be guides for research teams. Authorities also encourage the region’s traditional honey bee farming， as it doesn’t require cultivation of the land and is environmentally friendly.

当地政府和非政府组织设法让当地居民（包括许多藏族人和羌族人）参与到保护工作中：例如，聘请他们担任护林员，或者培训他们当研究团队的向导。当局还鼓励发展当地传统蜜蜂养殖，因为养蜂不需要耕种土地，而且对环境有利。

Where some people still reside， as in the Wolong reserve in Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture， local authorities have strict rules on activities in protected areas. Wolong was designated a special administrative district in 1983， with the district authority granted power to punish crimes such as poaching and illegal logging. Authorities also offer incentives for locals to protect the environment， such as subsidies for electricity if they limit the use of firewood.

在仍然有人居住的地方，比如阿坝藏族羌族自治州的卧龙自然保护区，当地政府对保护区内的活动有严格的规定。1983年，卧龙被划定为特别行政区，区政府有权惩处偷猎和非法伐木等犯罪行为。当地政府还制定激励措施，鼓励当地人保护环境，例如，限制使用柴火就可以获得电费补贴。

Can people and pandas live together？

人与大熊猫能否共存？

“Sichuan is a province with many people and very little land. It’s not easy to set up a purely ‘uninhabited’ reserve for giant pandas，” says Gao Fuhua， a 58-year-old writer who calls himself a “panda journalist” in Baoxing county （where David， the missionary， first came across giant pandas）.

“四川是一个人多地少的省份。要为大熊猫建立完全无人居住的保护区并不容易。”宝兴县（法国传教士谭卫道首次发现大熊猫的地方）自称“熊猫记者”的58岁作家高富华说。

In a church in Baoxing county， built by a team of missionaries that included David， photos from the 1980s show local Tibetans playing with wild pandas and feeding milk to the cubs. Gao believes this is the ideal relationship for pandas and humans： if people stop hunting pandas and protect their habitat， local residents won’t have to move away from the territory.

在宝兴县一座由谭卫道等传教士修建的教堂里，20世纪80年代拍摄的一些照片展示了当地藏民与野生熊猫一起嬉戏、给熊猫幼崽喂奶的场景。高富华认为，这是大熊猫和人类的理想关系：如果人们不再猎杀熊猫，保护熊猫的栖息地，那么当地居民就不必搬离这个地区。

Rather， conservation can bring benefits to local communities. Sichuan’s giant pandas helped generate 370 billion yuan from ecotourism in 2022， almost a quarter of the province’s GDP. Villages near reserves try to attract visitors by playing up their panda credentials with giant panda images and elements all over town. Baoxing received over 142，000 tourists during the Labor Day holiday from April 29 to May 3 this year.

确切地说，保护工作可以惠及当地社区。2022年，四川的大熊猫帮助创造了 3700 亿元的生态旅游收入，几乎占全省GDP的四分之一。全镇各保护区附近的村庄遍布大熊猫形象和元素，彰显自身的熊猫特色，以此吸引游客。2023年4月29日至5月3日的五一小长假期间，宝兴接待游客超过14.2万人次。

In 2014， the Baoxing county government and the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation （CFPA）， an organ-ization affiliated with China’s State Council， launched a post-disaster reconstruction project to promote the panda-themed tourism industry， mainly by encouraging locals to set up guesthouses. They also built the Panda Culture Communication and Education Centre which now houses two giant pandas.

2014年，宝兴县政府和中国国务院主管的中国扶贫基金会启动了一项灾后重建项目，主要通过鼓励当地人开办民宿客栈促进以熊猫为主题的旅游产业。他们还建立了大熊猫文化宣传教育中心，该中心目前养着两只大熊猫。

Finally， wild panda numbers may slowly increase again： The Ministry of Ecology and Environment announced in 2021 that they no longer considered the bear endangered in the wild， with the population exceeding 1，800. The IUCN reclassified giant pandas as “vulnerable” in 2016， an improvement on “endangered.”

最終，野生熊猫的数量可能会再次缓慢增加：2021年，生态环境部宣布，大熊猫野外种群数量超过1800只，不再认定为濒危野生动物。2016年，世界自然保护联盟将大熊猫重新归为“易危”物种，与“濒危”相比情况有所改善。

That doesn’t mean pandas are likely to be seen roaming around Baoxing or elsewhere any time soon， though. Most of them are now living far away from humans. “It’s true that many Sichuanese may never see a giant panda， but that won’t stop us from protecting them，” says Gao.

不过，这不代表很快就会看到熊猫在宝兴或其他地方闲逛。大多数熊猫如今生活在远离人类的地方。“确实，很多四川人可能从来没有见过野生大熊猫，但也不妨碍我们保护它们。”高富华说。

1本文节选自《汉语世界》官网（www.theworldofchinese.com）2023年6月25日刊文。

2法国传教士、生物学家，中文名谭卫道。1869年，他在四川省雅安市宝兴县邓池沟深山中发现了大熊猫，并制作大熊猫标本寄到了巴黎自然历史博物馆。