原文標題：
Invasive?species
Cat got your tern
Feral house cats have invaded Hawaii
入侵物種
貓叼走了你的燕鷗
野貓已侵入夏威夷
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They are killing the state’s native species. Some Hawaiians want to cull them instead
野貓殺死本地物種。一些夏威夷人想要捕殺野貓
[Para.1]
When Mark Twain first set eyes on Honolulu in 1866, he observed that the trees were so dense that they blocked the sunlight, lava from past volcanic eruptions covered the corals—and cats were everywhere.
1866年，馬克·吐溫第一次來到檀香山，發(fā)現(xiàn)這里密林蔽日，火山熔巖覆蓋著珊瑚，而且到處都是貓。
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In a dispatch?for the Sacramento Union, Twain reported seeing “tame?cats, wild cats, singed cats, individual cats, groups of cats, platoons of cats, companies?of cats, regiments of cats, armies of cats, multitudes of cats, millions of cats, and all of them sleek, fat, lazy, and sound asleep”.
在給《薩克拉門托聯(lián)合報》的一則電訊中,吐溫寫道，他看到了“溫順的貓，狂野的貓，燒焦毛的貓，獨居的貓，成群的貓，成排的貓，成連的貓，成團的貓，成隊的貓，大批的貓，成千上萬的貓，無一例外都有一身光亮的皮毛，肥嘟嘟，懶洋洋，還香香地睡著?！?br>?

[Para.2]
Nearly 160 years later, however, the descendants of the cats that so delighted Twain are now widely seen as a menace to the islands.
那些貓很受吐溫喜愛，可近160年過去后，它們的后代竟成了當?shù)氐囊淮蟮満Α?br>?
The feral cat, explains the Hawaii Invasive Species Council (HISC), has become one of the state’s most “devastating” predators.
夏威夷入侵物種委員會(HISC)稱，這些野貓已經(jīng)成了夏威夷州最具破壞性的掠食動物之一。
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[Para.3]
Cats were first brought to Hawaii aboard European colonists’ ships, where they preyed on rats and mice.
貓起初是坐上歐洲殖民者的船來到夏威夷的，這些貓在船上捕食老鼠。
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As their number in their new home grew during the 19th century, birds started to disappear.
19世紀，當?shù)刎堫愖兌嗔?，而鳥類開始消失。
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At least 30 types of native?bird became more scarce or went extinct between 1870 and 1930 as they were exposed to their new whiskered foes, according to the US Geological Survey.
根據(jù)美國地質(zhì)調(diào)查局的數(shù)據(jù)，在1870到1930年間，至少30種土生鳥類受這些貓的威脅而越發(fā)稀少甚至滅絕。
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[Para.4]
Birds are not the only casualty of Hawaii’s feline invasion.
鳥類并不是夏威夷貓類入侵的唯一受害者。
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Toxoplasmosis is a disease caused by a parasite?that reproduces in the digestive systems of cats, and then contaminates soil and water through their faeces.
弓形蟲病是由一種寄生蟲引起的疾病，這種寄生蟲在貓的消化系統(tǒng)內(nèi)繁殖且經(jīng)由它們的排泄物進而污染水土。
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A new study determined that two spinner dolphins found stranded off the Hawaiian coast died of toxoplasmosis.
一項新的研究表明于夏威夷海岸發(fā)現(xiàn)的兩只擱淺的飛旋海豚死于弓形蟲病。
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From these findings the authors suggest that at least 60 spinner dolphins have died of the parasite over the past 30 years.
根據(jù)調(diào)查結果，作者認為在過去30年里，至少有60頭飛旋海豚因這種寄生蟲而死。
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[Para.5]
The overwhelming majority of the whales and dolphins included in the study were killed by other means.
這項研究中絕大多數(shù)的鯨魚和海豚之死另有原因。
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But “if they do become infected, this study suggests that they die and they die quickly”, says Kristi West, one of the authors and director of the Health and Stranding Lab at the University of Hawaii.
但“這個研究表明，它們?nèi)绻桓腥揪蜁杆偎劳觥保耐拇髮W健康與擱淺實驗室主任兼作者克里斯蒂·韋斯特稱。
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Hawaii’s endangered monk seals have also been killed by the bug.
瀕危的夏威夷僧海豹之死也是由于這個原因。
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[Para.6]
Feral cats are not just a problem for Hawaii. A study published in Global Change Biology suggests that, globally, they are responsible for the extinction of at least 14% of bird, mammal and reptile island species.
野貓不僅僅給夏威夷帶來了麻煩，《全球變化生物學》上的一項研究顯示野貓還致使全球范圍內(nèi)至少14%的鳥類、哺乳和爬行島嶼物種滅絕。
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Toxoplasmosis has also been found to kill sea otters along the California coast.
加州海岸也有海獺死于弓形蟲病。
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[Para.7]
What can be done?
該怎么做呢？
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A bill that could have directed the HISC to cull cats using poisoned bait, as Australia has done, died in the state legislature earlier this year.
之前本來有一項法案指導夏威夷入侵物種委員會利用毒餌捕殺部分野貓，跟澳大利亞的做法一樣，但這項法案今年早些時候在州議會上夭折。
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Animal-lovers prefer to focus on capturing, neutering and releasing wild cats so that they have no kittens. But HISC contends that such programmes do not actually help curtail cat numbers.
動物愛好者更主張把野貓捉來絕育，然后放生，如此一來這些野貓就不能繁衍后代，而委員會堅稱這種方案不能有效縮減野貓數(shù)量。
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Ms West suggests that people are too quick to blame the cats, when there is another culprit.
韋斯特女士認為人們總是急于責怪貓咪，其實罪魁禍首另有其人。
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“People have to stop abandoning these poor cats,” she says. “It’s not really a cat problem. It’s a human problem.”
“人類不能再拋棄這些可憐的貓咪了，”她說?！斑@并不是貓咪的問題，而是人類自己的問題?！?br>?
（恭喜讀完，本篇英語詞匯量506左右）
原文出自：2022年12月10日《The Economist》United States版塊。
精讀筆記來源于：自由英語之路

本文翻譯整理: Guo Zhenyan本文編輯校對: Irene
僅供個人英語學習交流使用。

【補充資料】（來自于網(wǎng)絡）
1866年3月，馬克·吐溫受托于《薩克拉門托聯(lián)合報》(Sacramento Union)抵達夏威夷調(diào)查當?shù)靥橇戏N植園的發(fā)展狀況，他在四個多月的時間里向國內(nèi)發(fā)回25篇書信式報道。
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飛旋海豚?Spinner?dolphin出生75~80公分，成體雌2公尺，雄2.4公尺，體重達77公斤。體修長，吻細長，上下顎齒每側45-62枚。背鰭位于中背，三角形，或頂端稍向後，偶有向前。尾鰭中央凹刻深且在尾椎末有微稜突起于尾鰭平面上。唇黑色，吻前端為黑，眼至胸鰭有黑帶紋。性喜躍出水面，達3-4英尺，并以身體縱軸為軸，可以芭蕾旋舞，旋轉至少3次，多達7次，故俗稱〝飛旋海豚〞(spinner dolphin)。
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夏威夷僧海豹Monk Seals在世界自然保護聯(lián)盟（IUCN）瀕臨滅絕物種清單中屬于極危物種。夏威夷僧海豹是唯一一種全年都在熱帶海域中生活的海豹。正如名字一樣，該物種僅生活在夏威夷附近的海島和環(huán)礁上。
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海獺?Sea Otters，鼬科海獺屬的一種動物。群居，除繁殖外，幾乎終生海棲。夜間將海藻纏在身上枕浪而睡，以防止被沖走，并有幾只輪流放哨?？蓾撍?0米深的海底，主要以貝類、鮑魚、海膽、螃蟹等為食，常仰泳并將石塊固定于胸部，把食物砸碎取其肉。由于生活環(huán)境惡劣，能量消耗大，海獺進食量達自身體重的1/3，為動物界之最。分布于北太平洋的寒冷海域。海獺皮下脂肪較薄，但皮毛極為致密，每平方厘米皮膚達12.5萬根毛發(fā)，亦為動物界之最。高品質(zhì)的皮毛引來人類捕殺。到1911年，全世界僅存下1000頭，后經(jīng)過保護才有所回升。
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【重點句子】（3?個）
Birds are not the only casualty of Hawaii’s feline invasion.
鳥類并不是夏威夷貓類入侵的唯一受害者。
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The overwhelming majority of the whales and dolphins included in the study were killed by other means.
這項研究中絕大多數(shù)的鯨魚和海豚之死另有原因。
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Ms West suggests that people are too quick to blame the cats, when there is another culprit.
韋斯特女士認為人們總是急于責怪貓咪，其實罪魁禍首另有其人。