评论
打印
Tibbles proved to be a very efficient specimen collector.
蒂伯斯是一个非常有 能力的标本收集者
So much so, in fact, that one year later,
以至于实际上一年后
when the bird was officially declared a new species,
这鸟被正式宣布为新品种
Mr Lyall had to regretfully inform the scientific community at large
莱奥先生不得不懊悔地告诉科学界
that the species was now extinct. In truth, Tibbles wasn't the only feline to blame,
这个品种现在已灭绝了。事实上，蒂伯斯不是唯一被指责的猫科动物
but the ease with which the Stephens Island wren had been dispatched was alarming.
但是斯蒂芬岛鹪鹩的迅速消亡给人们敲响了警钟
The cats were removed from Stephens Island, but it was too late for the wren.
猫被移出了斯蒂芬岛 但对于鹪鹩来说已经太晚了
Now only known from a few cat-chewed museum specimens,
现在只能从被猫咬过的博物馆 标本上了解鹪鹩了
evolving to be flightless had proven fatal. So it seems there is a trade-off.
进化成无法飞行被证明是致命的。这似乎是场交换
The freedom of island life allows a species to relax its guard,
岛屿生活的自由让一个 物种放松了它的警惕
but that can leave it defenceless.
留下的只是毫无防御
On the main islands of New Zealand, similar dramas have played out time and time again.
在新西兰主岛上，类似的剧本周而复始得在上演
Forests dominated by giant kauri trees once covered the North Island.
曾经覆盖岛屿北部的巨大 南洋杉主宰着森林
The fragments that remain look much like they have for millennia, but looks can be deceiving.
残存的树木看上去好像存在了数千年，但表象是可能假的
A few centuries ago, this forest echoed with the calls of strange and wonderful birds.
几百年前，这里的森林响彻奇异又绝妙的鸟叫
Most famous was the giant moa,
最有名的是大恐鸟
which looked a bit like an ostrich, but taller than an elephant.
看上去有点像驼鸟，但比大象要高
And there are many more birds whose haunting songs now exist here only in memory.
这里更多的萦绕于心的鸟鸣如今只存在记忆中
