I would like to talk to you about a very special group of animals.
我想和大家聊聊 一种非常不寻常的动物。
There are 10,000 species of birds in the world. Vultures are amongst the most threatened group of birds. When you see a vulture like this, the first thing that comes to your mind is, these are disgusting, ugly, greedy creatures that are just after your flesh, associated with politicians. (Laughter) (Applause) I want to change that perception. I want to change those feelings you have for these birds, because they need our sympathy. They really do. (Laughter) And I'll tell you why.
地球上总共有一万种鸟类。 秃鹫是他们中最濒临灭绝的一种。 每当你看到秃鹫就像这只,首先 浮现在你脑海中一定是,这是一些令人厌恶, 贪得无厌并且追逐腐肉的可怕生物, 让人禁不住联想到政客们。(笑声)(掌声) 我想改变这种看法。我想改变 大家对秃鹫的这些不好的联想,因为 他们需要我们的同情。他们真的很需要。(笑声) 让我来告诉大家为什么。
First of all, why do they have such a bad press? When Charles Darwin went across the Atlantic in 1832 on the Beagle, he saw the turkey vulture, and he said, "These are disgusting birds with bald scarlet heads that are formed to revel in putridity." (Laughter) You could not get a worse insult, and that from Charles Darwin. (Laughter) You know, he changed his mind when he came back, and I'll tell you why. They've also be associated with Disney — (Laughter) — personified as goofy, dumb, stupid characters.
首先,为什么他们会给我们留下这种坏印象呢? 1832年 查尔斯 达尔文在搭乘贝格尔号穿越大西洋的 旅途中,发现了土耳其秃鹫, 他当时说道,“这些令人恶心的,长着猩红色 秃头的鸟儿们总是沉湎于腐肉中不可自拔."(笑声) 你很难找到比这更恶毒的侮辱了,这些话可是查尔斯 达尔文说的。(笑声) 你们知道吗,达尔文返回英国之后就改变他的看法, 我马上会告诉你们为什么。 秃鹫还曾经被迪斯尼看上—(笑声)— 像高飞狗一样,被人格化,变成了麻木的,愚蠢的动画角色。
More recently, if you've been following the Kenyan press — (Laughter) (Applause) (Cheers) — these are the attributes that they associated the Kenyan MPs with. But I want to challenge that. I want to challenge that. Do you know why? Because MPs do not keep the environment clean. (Laughter) MPs do not help to prevent the spread of diseases. They are hardly monogamous. (Laughter) (Applause) They are far from being extinct. (Laughter) And, my favorite is, vultures are better looking. (Applause) (Laughter)
而最近,如果你留意过肯尼亚的新闻 ——(笑声)(掌声)(欢呼)—— 肯尼亚的国会议员们被讽刺为像秃鹫一般 贪婪和愚蠢。但是我想叫板它。 我要质疑它。你们知道为什么吗? 因为国会议员们 不能保持自然环境的清洁。(笑声) 不能阻止疾病的传播。 几乎没人遵守一夫一妻制度。(笑声)(掌声) 他们离灭绝还很远。(笑声) 并且,这条我最喜欢,秃鹫比议员们好看多了。(掌声)(笑声)
So there's two types of vultures in this planet. There are the New World vultures that are mainly found in the Americas, like the condors and the caracaras, and then the Old World vultures, where we have 16 species. From these 16, 11 of them are facing a high risk of extinction.
在这个世界上有两大类秃鹫。 新大陆的秃鹫主要生长在 美洲大陆,像是美洲秃鹫和委内瑞拉秃鹫, 而在其他的大陆,那里 总共有16种秃鹫,他们中的11种正面临着 灭绝的风险。
So why are vultures important? First of all, they provide vital ecological services. They clean up. They're our natural garbage collectors. They clean up carcasses right to the bone. They help to kill all the bacteria. They help absorb anthrax that would otherwise spread and cause huge livestock losses and diseases in other animals. Recent studies have shown that in areas where there are no vultures, carcasses take up to three to four times to decompose, and this has huge ramifications for the spread of diseases.
所以为什么说秃鹫重要呢?首先, 秃鹫对生态循环做出了至关重要的作用。他们净化环境。 秃鹫是我们的大自然垃圾清道夫。 他们会把尸体上的肉吃的干干净净只剩白骨。 他们能消灭所有尸体上的细菌,他们能吸收炭疽病毒 阻止病毒的传播与扩散 从而使大量的家畜和动物远离死亡和疾病。 最近的研究还显示在那些 没有秃鹫生存的地区,尸体的分解会多花 三到四倍的时间,这给疾病的传播与扩散 提供了更多的机会。
Vultures also have tremendous historical significance. They have been associated in ancient Egyptian culture. Nekhbet was the symbol of the protector and the motherhood, and together with the cobra, symbolized the unity between Upper and Lower Egypt. In Hindu mythology, Jatayu was the vulture god, and he risked his life in order to save the goddess Sita from the 10-headed demon Ravana. In Tibetan culture, they are performing very important sky burials. In places like Tibet, there are no places to bury the dead, or wood to cremate them, so these vultures provide a natural disposal system.
秃鹫还有非常多的历史意义。 他们和古埃及文化有着密切的联系。 奈库贝特女神在古埃及文化中象征着监护人 和母性,通常和眼镜蛇女神维阿杰特一起出现, 象征着上埃及和下埃及的团结和统一。 在印度教神话中,秃鹫之神名为雅达尤, 他冒着生命危险 从10头恶魔罗波那手中救出了西妲女神。 在西藏文化中,秃鹫尤其显得重要 天葬。在那些类似西藏的地方,既没有条件 土葬,也没有木材去进行火葬, 所以秃鹫为当地人提供了一种天然的尸体处理系统。
So what is the problem with vultures? We have eight species of vultures that occur in Kenya, of which six are highly threatened with extinction. The reason is that they're getting poisoned, and the reason that they're getting poisoned is because there's human-wildlife conflicts. The pastoral communities are using this poison to target predators, and in return, the vultures are falling victim to this.
那么秃鹫都面临着哪些问题呢? 肯尼亚生长着八种秃鹫, 其中的六种正濒临灭绝。 很多秃鹫被毒死,中毒的原因 是因为在肯尼亚正在发生的 人类与野生动物之间对于生存空间的争夺。牧人们 使用毒药来对付掠食动物, 掠食动物被毒死之后,秃鹫们随之成为了下一个受害者。
In South Asia, in countries like India and Pakistan, four species of vultures are listed as critically endangered, which means they have less than 10 or 15 years to go extinct, and the reason is because they are falling prey by consuming livestock that has been treated with a painkilling drug like Diclofenac. This drug has now been banned for veterinary use in India, and they have taken a stand. Because there are no vultures, there's been a spread in the numbers of feral dogs at carcass dump sites, and when you have feral dogs, you have a huge time bomb of rabies. The number of cases of rabies has increased tremendously in India.
在南亚,一些国家类似于印度和巴基斯坦, 四种秃鹫被列为极度濒临灭绝中, 这意味着在他们将会在10到15年之内彻底灭绝, 灭绝的原因是因为秃鹫们 食用了那些生前曾被喂食过 含有双氯芬酸成分止疼药的家畜。 现在含有双氯芬酸的兽药已经被禁止在印度使用, 印度政府表现出了积极的态度。 因为秃鹫数量的骤减,野狗开始 在牲畜尸体掩埋场周围泛滥成灾, 在野狗泛滥的地区,狂犬病就像定时炸弹一样 随时都会爆发。狂犬病案例的数量 在印度出现了惊人的增长。
Kenya is going to have one of the largest wind farms in Africa: 353 wind turbines are going to be up at Lake Turkana. I am not against wind energy, but we need to work with the governments, because wind turbines do this to birds. They slice them in half. They are bird-blending machines. In West Africa, there's a horrific trade of dead vultures to serve the witchcraft and the fetish market.
肯尼亚即将拥有全非洲最大规模的风力发电厂: 353台涡轮发电机即将被安装在图尔卡纳湖区。 我不反对开发风能,但是我们应该呼吁 政府重新考虑这项决定,因为风力涡轮机 会对鸟类造成威胁。高速的扇叶会把鸟儿“切”成两半。 它们简直就是鸟类粉碎机。 在西非,一些人毫无怜悯的叫卖 死去的秃鹫来满足巫术和收藏的需求。
So what's being done? Well, we're conducting research on these birds. We're putting transmitters on them. We're trying to determine their basic ecology, and see where they go. We can see that they travel different countries, so if you focus on a problem locally, it's not going to help you. We need to work with governments in regional levels. We're working with local communities. We're talking to them about appreciating vultures, about the need from within to appreciate these wonderful creatures and the services that they provide.
我们正在做什么呢?我们正在研究 这些秃鹫。我们在它们身上安装定位器。 我们试图去查明秃鹫与周围环境的关系(生态学) 并且了解秃鹫的行踪。 我们发现它们会在不同的国家之间旅行,所以 如果只是关注一个地区,你很难取得什么进展。 我们需要去和整个地区的政府们打交道。 我们正努力与当地的居民们沟通。 我们正在尽力让他们了解到秃鹫的益处, 并且发自内心得去感激这些 奇妙的生物和他们为自然所做的贡献。
How can you help? You can become active, make noise. You can write a letter to your government and tell them that we need to focus on these very misunderstood creatures. Volunteer your time to spread the word. Spread the word. When you walk out of this room, you will be informed about vultures, but speak to your families, to your children, to your neighbors about vultures.
你们能做些什么呢?你们可以行动起来, 制造声势。你们可以写信给你们的政府 并且告诉他们,我们需要去关注这些被严重 误解的生物。花些时间 告诉你身边的人。尽可能多的人。 当你走出这个房间的时候,你们就是 秃鹫达人了,不但要告诉你的家人们,还要 告诉你们的邻居们有关秃鹫的故事。
They are very graceful. Charles Darwin said he changed his mind because he watched them fly effortlessly without energy in the skies. Kenya, this world, will be much poorer without these wonderful species. Thank you very much. (Applause)
它们是那么的优雅。查尔斯 达尔文曾说到 他改变了自己的看法,在他看到秃鹫们在空中 优雅而又浑然天成的身姿之后。 肯尼亚,全世界,都将会有很大的损失 如果失去了这些奇妙的物种。 非常感谢。(鼓掌)