新加坡当局劝说公众卫赛节期间勿向保护区和水库放生

据《asiaone》报道，随着卫赛节的到来，新加坡国家园林委员会和国家水利局提醒公众勿向自然保护区和水库放养生物。

放生虽然是一种有意义的善举，但它却有可能破坏我们居住地的生态平衡，影响水质。

国家园林委员会助理Sharon Chan女士表示，许多人都未意识到放生也意味着把那些生物推向死亡。前段时间，她就巧遇被放生的几只软壳龟因不具备野外生存能力，于被放生当天死亡。这些生物带有海港病毒，有可能会污染水资源，影响其他生物的生存。我们呼吁公众不要把宠物和动物放生到野外去。

新加坡佛教友谊会主席Angie Monksfield进一步阐述了佛教和对动物施善行的关系。她表示对动物怀有慈悲心是佛教思想的中心内容之一。然而把这些生物，特别是那些被人豢养的生物放到野外去却不是一种必要的施善行为。因为它可能使那些生物受到他们天敌的威胁。

为了提醒公众不要放生，5月的后两个星期，在麦里芝水库公园和皮尔士水库上下游将会有佛教友谊会成员、学生和来自各行各业的自愿者们向人们分发宣传册，张贴海报。（编译：子规）

Releasing animals into the nature reserves and reservoirs is a well-meaning act, but it may have adverse effects on the ecological balance in our nature reserves and parks, as well as the water quality of our reservoirs.

As Vesak Day approaches, the National Parks Board (NParks) and PUB, the national water agency, has issued a statement reminding the public not to release animals into nature reserves and reservoirs.

Ms Sharon Chan, Assistant Director at NParks, explains, "Most people do not realise that releasing animals means sending them to their deaths. One recent incident I encountered was the release of a few soft-shell terrapins. They were not equipped to survive in the wild, and died on that very day.

Should these animals harbour viruses, they will contaminate the water and affect other native wildlife. We want to appeal to everyone to refrain from releasing your pets or animals into the wild."

Ms Angie Monksfield, President of Buddhist Fellowship, further clarifies the link between Buddhism and kindness towards animals, "Being kind to animals is one of the core practices in Buddhism. However, freeing animals into the wild, especially those that have been bred in captivity, is not necessarily a kind act as these animals would be easy prey for predators.

To remind the public not to release animals, members of Buddhist Fellowship, school students and volunteers from all walks of life will be distributing brochures and putting up posters at MacRitchie Reservoir Park, Lower and Upper Peirce Reservoir during the last two weekends of May.