“埃博拉”病毒
文化交流
作者：by Salisu Suleiman
Once， while traveling as a passenger in an inter-state taxi， a wild animal had the misfortune of running onto the highway. Without thinking， our driver swerved—not to avoid， but to kill the animal， which he did， though at the price of a shattered headlamp and 2）dented 3）fender.
That a driver could spontaneously elect to use his car to 4）bludgeon an animal to death， knowing that it could result in an accident or damage to the vehicle， was not as surprising to the passengers as was his next move； he opened the 5）engine compartment of the Peugeot 504 6）station wagon and somehow squeezed the dead animal inside for the rest of the journey.
He was apparently unbothered by the damage to the taxi， didn’t care about the dangers of the toxic oven he’d improvised and certainly had no apologies to the passengers， though he clearly put our lives in danger by using the vehicle as a hunting weapon. The satisfied smile on his face for the rest of the journey was that of a man looking forward to a huge feast of 7）bushmeat.
The driver’s attitude is not much different from that of many Nigerians to wildlife； meat. It doesn’t matter if it is a deer， monkey， 8）grass cutter， 9）antelope， snake， 10）gazelle， elephant， 11）rhino， hippo or 12）vulture. The sight of wildlife instantly 13）conjures images of steamed， fried or roasted meat. It is not an accident the bushmeat industry is a billion 14）naira business in Nigeria.
In many African societies， hunters were （and still are） seen as brave and adventurous. In some cultures， a significant rite of passage to manhood was the ability of a young man to single-handedly hunt down a dangerous animal. Thousands of people hunt for a living because the bushmeat industry requires daily supplies of freshly killed or captured wildlife.
That instinct to hunt and kill every wild animal has had very 15）adverse consequences for Nigeria’s wildlife， such as the disappearance of some species which used to be plentiful. For instance， as recently as the 1960s， travelers along Nigeria’s border with Niger Republic sometimes had to yield for elephants， giraffes， antelopes and other wild animals to pass because of the rich vegetation and wildlife.
Today however， one can travel along the same stretch for many miles without seeing a blade of grass or a single animal. The vegetation is gone， the water vanished， and the animals， extinct. 16）Empirical studies are scarce， but it is selfevident that several species have disappeared， primarily due to unregulated hunting.