Liu Zhao, Jiang Zhigang, Fang Hongxia, Li Chunwang, Mi Aizi, Chen Jing, Zhang Xiaowei, Cui Shaopeng, Chen Daiqiang, Ping Xiaoge, Li Feng, Li Chunlin, Tang Songhua, Luo Zhenhua, Zeng Yan, Meng Zhibin
Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
PLoS One. 2016 Mar 1;11(3):e0145901. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0145901. eCollection 2016.
A wide array of wildlife species, including many animals, are used in traditional medicines across many medicinal systems, including in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Due to over-exploitation and habitat loss, the populations of many animals commonly used in TCM have declined and are unable to meet market demand. A number of measures have been taken to try to reduce the impact that this large and growing market for TCM may have on wild animal species. Consumer preferences and behavior are known to play an important role in the consumption and protection of wild animals used in traditional medicine, and thus are likely to be an important factor in the success of many of these mechanisms--particularly given the significant percentage of TCMs that are over-the-counter products (access to which is not mediated by practitioners). In this study we conducted questionnaires and designed stated preference experiments embodying different simulation scenarios using a random sample of the population in Beijing to elicit individuals' knowledge, perceptions and preferences toward wild or farmed animal materials and their substitutes used in traditional Chinese medicine. We found that respondents had a stated preference for wild materials over farm-raised and other alternatives because they believe that the effectiveness of wild-sourced materials is more credible than that of other sources. However, we also found that, although respondents used TCM products, they had a poor understanding of the function or composition of either traditional Chinese medicines or proprietary Chinese medicines (PCM), and paid little attention to the composition of products when making purchasing decisions. Furthermore, awareness of the need for species protection, or "conservation consciousness" was found to play an important role in willingness to accept substitutions for wild animal materials, while traditional animal medicinal materials (TAMs) derived from well-known endangered species, such as bear bile and tiger bone, show relatively higher substitutability. These results suggest that there is still hope for conservation measures which seek to promote a transition to farmed animal, plant and synthetic ingredients and provide clear directions for future social marketing, education and engagement efforts.
包括许多动物在内的各种各样的野生动物物种，在包括中医在内的许多医学体系的传统药物中都有应用。由于过度开发和栖息地丧失，中医中常用的许多动物种群数量已经下降，无法满足市场需求。已经采取了一些措施来试图减少这个庞大且不断增长的中医市场可能对野生动物物种产生的影响。众所周知，消费者的偏好和行为在传统药物中使用的野生动物的消费和保护方面起着重要作用，因此很可能是许多这些机制成功的重要因素——特别是考虑到相当大比例的中药是非处方药（其获取不由从业者介导）。在本研究中，我们进行了问卷调查，并针对北京市人口的随机样本设计了包含不同模拟场景的陈述偏好实验，以了解个人对中药中使用的野生或养殖动物材料及其替代品的知识、认知和偏好。我们发现，受访者表示更喜欢野生材料而非养殖材料和其他替代品，因为他们认为野生来源材料的功效比其他来源更可信。然而，我们还发现，尽管受访者使用中药产品，但他们对中药或中成药的功能或成分了解甚少，在做出购买决策时很少关注产品的成分。此外，发现物种保护意识或“保护意识”在接受野生动物材料替代品的意愿方面起着重要作用，而源自著名濒危物种的传统动物药材，如熊胆和虎骨，显示出相对较高的可替代性。这些结果表明，旨在促进向养殖动物、植物和合成成分过渡的保护措施仍有希望，并为未来的社会营销、教育和参与努力提供了明确的方向。
