正文翻譯
原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網 http://www.ltaaa.com 翻譯：yzy86 轉載請注明出處

（譯注：蘇門答臘犀為分布于亞洲的三種犀牛之一，野生壽命可超過30歲，目前僅存于馬來西亞和印尼的蘇門答臘島，野外種群數(shù)量只有百頭上下，中國境內的最后一只蘇門答臘犀于1945年射殺于云南）

Rhino die every day, so why is the worldmourning the loss of Tam? Tam was the last male Sumatran rhinoceros in Malaysiaand was thought to have died of old age in his thirties – elderly for aSumatran rhino. He was taken from the wild in 2008 to a sanctuary in MalaysianBorneo. His health had been deteriorating since April 2019 and he finallysuccumbed in May. He is survived by a single female, Iman, who cannot reproducedue to a ruptured tumour in her uterus.

每天都有犀牛在死去，那么為什么全世界會為丹的離去而哀悼呢？丹是馬來西亞最后一只雄性蘇門答臘犀，被認為是老死的，享年三十多歲，對蘇門答臘犀牛來說屬于老年人了。他于2008年自野外捕獲，送進了馬來西亞婆羅洲的禁獵區(qū)。他的健康自2019年4月以來一直在惡化，最終在五月份咽了氣。他和一只雌性犀牛一起幸存了下來，后者由于子宮內的腫瘤破裂而無法生育。

The news isn’t good, but an estimated 80individuals survive in the wilds of Indonesia – not a great number, butmarginally better than the Javan rhino which may be as few as 58. Bycomparison, the African white rhino, which draws a great deal of concern, isthought to number 20,000. But populations of the Sumatran rhino – the world’ssmallest and hairiest rhino – have declined 70% in the past two decades, mainlydue to poaching and habitat loss, and are now classed as critically endangered– the highest possible risk of extinction.

這可不是條好消息，但據(jù)估計，在印度尼西亞的野外還有80頭幸存，這個數(shù)字并不多，但情況要比爪哇犀好一些，后者可能只剩58頭了。相較之下，引起了極大關注的非洲白犀牛，其數(shù)量被認為是2萬頭。但世界上體型最小且毛發(fā)最多的蘇門答臘犀牛，其種群數(shù)量在過去的二十年間已經下降了70%，主要是因為偷獵和棲息地的喪失，現(xiàn)在被歸入了極度瀕危物種（極危），這是滅絕風險最高的一個門類。

The majority of the remaining Sumatranrhino are reckoned to be on Sumatra – the largest island of Indonesia – with ahandful likely in the wild in Indonesian Borneo. For such a rare species with ascattered distribution that lives in dense mountain forests, uating thepopulation size isn’t easy. Camera trapping is the main tool for counting thisrelatively diminutive and shy rhino, but even confidence in the estimate of 80individuals isn’t high. There may be more but there are likely to be less –possibly as few as 30.

據(jù)估計，剩余的大部分蘇門答臘犀生活在印尼最大的島嶼蘇門答臘島上，而存在于印尼婆羅洲野外的蘇門答臘犀，可能一只手就數(shù)得過來。作為一種如此稀有的物種，分布地區(qū)極其分散，還生活在深山老林中，要估算其種群數(shù)量是不太容易的。要計算這種體型相對嬌小且害羞的犀牛數(shù)量，相機陷阱是主要的手段，但就算對估算出的80頭很有信心，這個數(shù)字也不高。有可能實際存在的數(shù)量更多，也可能更少，少至30頭都是有可能的。

Sumatran rhino once roamed across Asia,from south-east India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand to the islands ofSumatra and Borneo. It’s believed the wild Malaysian populations are nowextinct. There may be a small population in Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. Eric Dinerstein/Wikipedia

（圖解：蘇門答臘犀曾經漫步于整個亞洲，從印度東南部、孟加拉國、緬甸、泰國，到蘇門答臘島和婆羅洲均有分布。人們相信，野生的馬拉西亞種群現(xiàn)在已經滅絕了。在加里曼丹島上印尼的婆羅洲地區(qū)，可能還有極少量的種群存在）

A young female called Pahu – whose foresthabitat was literally being removed from under her feet by mining companies –was captured in 2018 and is apparently doing well in captivity. Sadly, there isa risk to this strategy. By removing rhino from their habitat, we furtherreduce the probability of them breeding successfully in the wild.

有一只叫帕胡的年輕雌性犀牛，捕獲于2018年，顯然在圈養(yǎng)狀態(tài)下表現(xiàn)良好。而讓人難過的是，這種策略存在一種風險。把犀牛從它們的棲息地中遷走，那我們就進一步降低了其在野外成功繁殖的可能性。

Mother, Ratu, with four-month-old Andatu atthe Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Way Kambas National Park, Indonesia. International Rhino Foundation/Wikipedia, CCBY

（圖解：母親拉圖和四個月大的安達圖，印度尼西亞威坎巴斯國家公園中的蘇門答臘犀禁獵區(qū)）

As an ecologist, captive breeding issomething that I find hard to celebrate. But it may be the only hope to save aspecies that, otherwise, appears doomed to slowly dwindle into extinction.

我作為一個生態(tài)學家，人工繁殖是我很難去稱贊的方式。但這可能是挽救一個物種唯一的希望，不然的話，它們似乎注定會緩慢減少，乃至滅絕。

（譯注：蘇門答臘犀屬于雙角犀屬，是這個屬里唯一的物種）

While the science is developing,“de-extinction” is still an expensive and unlikely long shot that raises itsown practical and ethical dilemmas. If successful, we could end up farming anecologically dead species. I want wild animals to be in the wild contributingto the ecosystems within which they evolved – not living in zoos forever.

雖然相關科學正在發(fā)展，“擺脫滅絕”仍然是耗資巨大且不太可能實現(xiàn)的大冒險，這也引發(fā)了其實際操作和倫理方面的困境。如果能成功，我們就不用再蓄養(yǎng)在生態(tài)角度看已經死亡的物種。我希望野生動物能生活在野外，對生態(tài)系統(tǒng)有所貢獻，并在其中演化，而不是永遠生活在動物園里。

An adolescent male Sumatran Rhino, killedby a stake when it fell into a trap in 1900. Now resident at the NationalMuseum of Scotland. Jason Gilchrist,Author provided (No reuse)

（圖解：一只亞成體的雄性蘇門答臘犀，于1900年跌入陷阱并被一根木樁所殺?，F(xiàn)成為了蘇格蘭國家博物館的展品）

Both modes of rescue – captive breeding andgenetic resurrection – are too little, too late, like firefighters takingaction when the damage is already too far gone. The longer that society waitsto help a declining species, the greater the delay in addressing the drivingforces of endangerment, be they poaching, habitat loss, non-native species, orclimate change. And the lower the probability of success, and the greater thecost of the attempt.

兩種拯救的方式，人工繁殖和用基因復活都太微不足道了，也太遲了，就像消防員在損失已經不可挽回的時候采取行動。我們的社會在救助一個衰亡中的物種上等待的時間越久，處理那些會帶來危害的動因時就越嚴重地被耽擱，它們可以是偷獵，是棲息地喪失，是外來物種或是氣候變化。而成功的可能性越低，這種嘗試的耗費就越大。

So, Tam was just one rhino. He was not thelast of his species, or even the last male of his species, but he is one moreloss from an already limited population. The lower the population size, thegreater the impact of losing another individual. Tam is another alarm bellalxing us to our inability to act quickly enough to remove the threats tospecies, and ultimately to save life on Earth. Every dead Sumatran rhino is nowmet with publicity and concern. Rightly so, but we need to start getting theconservation action right early enough for it to work.

所以，丹只是一頭犀牛而已。他并不是他這個物種的最后一位成員，甚至都不是他這個物種的最后一頭雄性，但他是這個數(shù)量已經很有限的種群的又一次損失。種群規(guī)模越小，再失去一個個體對種群的沖擊就越大。丹的死去是又一次警鐘，就我們從速行動以消除這些對物種的威脅乃至最終拯救地球生命方面的無能，給我們提出了警告?，F(xiàn)在每一頭死去的蘇門答臘犀都得到了宣傳和關注。這么做是正確的，但是為了讓保育行動能夠奏效，我們必須盡可能早地讓保育行動以正確的方式開展。
（本文作者Jason Gilchrist為來自愛丁堡龍比亞大學的生態(tài)學家）

評論翻譯
原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網 http://www.ltaaa.com 翻譯：yzy86 轉載請注明出處


1、Please continueto save the Sumatran rhinos and get rid of all the poachers because since thelast Malaysian male died, we really need to boost their numbers back up ifwe’re going to save this wonderful smallest member of the Rhino family becauseI care a lot about them and other rhinos as well as all Wildlife around theworld.

請繼續(xù)拯救這些蘇門答臘犀，并除掉所有的偷獵者，因為由于馬來西亞最后的雄犀死去了，如果我們打算拯救這種美妙的犀牛家族中最小的成員，我們就真的必須讓它們的數(shù)量回升，因為我很是在乎它們以及其他犀牛，乃至全世界所有的野生動物。

2、It would havebeen nice to mention that one of the males in Way Kambas is Harapan, born inthe US and returned to Indonesia to help save his species as a young animal.Now 12 years old, it is hoped he will start breeding soon.

有件事如果能體貼地提一下就好了，威坎巴斯國家公園里的其中一頭雄犀叫哈拉潘，出生于美國并在年輕時返回了印度尼西亞，為的就是幫助他這個物種。現(xiàn)在他已經12歲了，希望他能很快開始繁殖。