倫敦動(dòng)物園“人口普查” 動(dòng)物萌態(tài)十足（組圖）

倫敦動(dòng)物園迎來一場(chǎng)“人口普查”，工作人員給動(dòng)物園里的所有動(dòng)物測(cè)量身高和體重，測(cè)量數(shù)據(jù)將與全球動(dòng)物園分享，以便比較數(shù)千種瀕危動(dòng)物的數(shù)據(jù)。來看看這些萌態(tài)十足的動(dòng)物們吧。

這是在英國(guó)倫敦動(dòng)物園拍攝的“身高尺”前的一只亞洲獅(8月24日攝)。新華社發(fā)(倫敦動(dòng)物園供圖)

How do you get an emperor scorpion to hop up onto a scale to peer at its weight?

你如何讓一只帝王蝎跳上磅稱稱體重?

Or get a yawning Asiatic lioness to stand still for a minute so that you can take her measurements?

如何讓一只打哈欠的亞洲雌獅子站著不動(dòng)，保持一分鐘，讓你測(cè)量它的體重和尺寸?

At the London Zoo, they do it very carefully — with patience, scales and bribes.

倫敦動(dòng)物園飼養(yǎng)員非常仔細(xì)地進(jìn)行測(cè)量工作，他們滿懷耐心，用食物“賄賂”動(dòng)物，用磅秤給動(dòng)物們稱重。

Mark Habben, head of zoological management at the Zoological Society of London, said in a phone interview Friday that 70 keepers had begun just such an undertaking the day before: the zoo’s annual weigh-in.

倫敦動(dòng)物學(xué)會(huì)動(dòng)物管理的負(fù)責(zé)人馬克•哈本在8月25日的電話采訪中說，70名飼養(yǎng)員已于8月24日開始進(jìn)行倫敦動(dòng)物園一年一度的動(dòng)物稱重工作。

Armed with giant rulers, big (and little) scales, along with the animals’ favorite food, they are measuring, weighing and counting most of the 750 species in care of the zoo.

飼養(yǎng)員拿著大尺子、大型(或小型)磅秤以及動(dòng)物們最愛的食物，正在為園中照管的750種動(dòng)物中的大多數(shù)進(jìn)行身高體長(zhǎng)的測(cè)量、稱重并盤點(diǎn)數(shù)量。

8月24日，在英國(guó)倫敦動(dòng)物園，工作人員為一只松鼠猴稱重。新華社發(fā)(倫敦動(dòng)物園供圖)

Because the zoo has about 20,000 animals, he said, “this will go on for the next couple of weeks.”

他說，因?yàn)閳@中有大約20000只動(dòng)物，“所以接下來幾周都將進(jìn)行這項(xiàng)工作。”

The keepers are taking the vital statistics of the smallest primates (the pygmy marmosets), the towering creatures (the giraffes) and the many animals in between: gorillas, squirrel monkeys, penguins and ants, to name a few.

飼養(yǎng)員正在對(duì)最小的靈長(zhǎng)目動(dòng)物(侏儒狨猴)、高大的動(dòng)物(長(zhǎng)頸鹿)以及諸如大猩猩、松鼠猴、企鵝、螞蟻等尺寸適中的動(dòng)物進(jìn)行生命統(tǒng)計(jì)。

The goal of all this weighing and measuring and counting is not only to gauge their health and well-being — it’s also to make sure “we care for our animals by feeding them the correct food,” the society says on its website.

對(duì)動(dòng)物進(jìn)行稱重、測(cè)量和清點(diǎn)數(shù)目不僅僅是為了評(píng)估它們的健康狀況，也是為了確保“我們照管動(dòng)物時(shí)，給他們喂食了正確的食物”，倫敦動(dòng)物學(xué)會(huì)官網(wǎng)如是說。

With such valuable information, one may learn at another zoo, for instance, that a corn snake named Sausage can eat one mouse every 10 days. That’s the same amount that Ebeneezer, a royal python, swallows — except every 21 days. Frodo and Freda, White’s Tree frogs? Twenty crickets every three days.

有了這些有用的信息，動(dòng)物園就能夠相互學(xué)習(xí)了解動(dòng)物的食量，比如說，一只叫“香腸”的玉米蛇每十天能吃掉一只老鼠;一只名埃比尼澤的皇蟒可能每21天吃一只老鼠;白點(diǎn)樹蛙弗羅多和弗雷達(dá)每3天吃掉20只蟋蟀。

The annual weigh-in at the London Zoo also lets the keepers figure out if any of the animals are pregnant, Habben said.

哈本說，倫敦動(dòng)物園每年給動(dòng)物稱重也讓飼養(yǎng)員弄清楚是否有動(dòng)物懷孕。

The information collected will be entered into a database, the Zoological Information Management System, and shared with zoos around the world, to compare important data on endangered species.

收集的數(shù)據(jù)將錄入動(dòng)物數(shù)據(jù)管理系統(tǒng)，并與世界各地的動(dòng)物園共享，以此對(duì)比瀕危物種的重要信息。

8月24日，在英國(guó)倫敦動(dòng)物園，一只樹蛙在秤上稱重。新華社發(fā)(倫敦動(dòng)物園供圖)

The lightest creature weighed at the London Zoo so far is the leaf cutter ant, whose weight is measured in micrograms, Habben said.

哈本說，迄今為止，切葉蟻是倫敦動(dòng)物園稱過的最輕的生物，其體重以微克度量。

That insect came in at 5 micrograms on average.

切葉蟻的平均體重約為5微克。

The giraffe was the heaviest to weigh, he said. For that, the zoo uses a “specially built” scale.

哈本稱，長(zhǎng)頸鹿是倫敦動(dòng)物園稱過的最重的動(dòng)物，為了給長(zhǎng)頸鹿稱重，動(dòng)物園還特制了一個(gè)秤。

In the case of a giraffe named Elisa, whose true weight is no one’s business but her own, it can be revealed only that she weighs between 800 to 850 kilograms.

對(duì)于一只叫艾麗莎的長(zhǎng)頸鹿來說，它的真實(shí)體重是自己的事，與其他人無關(guān)，所以可以只用記做：體重約為800-850千克。

The zoo periodically takes the measure of some animals on a monthly basis, but the annual weigh-in is more expansive. For strategic reasons, the keepers begin at a set point, often at feeding time.

動(dòng)物園每個(gè)月都會(huì)定期測(cè)量一些動(dòng)物的體重，但是每年進(jìn)行的測(cè)量則更為全面。出于策略考慮，飼養(yǎng)員通常會(huì)在喂食時(shí)間等固定時(shí)間開始測(cè)量。

8月24日，在英國(guó)倫敦動(dòng)物園，一只洪堡企鵝在秤上稱重。新華社發(fā)(倫敦動(dòng)物園供圖)

According to the society, which works on the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats:

倫敦動(dòng)物學(xué)會(huì)致力于全球動(dòng)物及動(dòng)物棲息地保護(hù)，該協(xié)會(huì)稱：

“A range of techniques are used, from training the sea lions to hold their flippers up to be measured, to tempting the brightly feathered macaw and the scaly python onto the weigh board with some of their favorite treats.”

“我們會(huì)使用許多技巧，比如訓(xùn)練海獅測(cè)量時(shí)舉起腳蹼，而對(duì)于羽毛色彩鮮艷的金剛鸚鵡和多鱗的巨蟒，可以用它們最喜歡的食物將它們引誘到稱重板上。”

In this weigh-in, Habben said, the zoo is prioritizing newborns. The penguins, for instance, “had quite a productive breeding season this year,” he said.

哈本說，這次工作優(yōu)先對(duì)新生動(dòng)物進(jìn)行測(cè)量。比如企鵝，“今年繁殖期就相當(dāng)多產(chǎn)。”

They’re also homing in on some important species. “We try to go at the key species to correlate dietary changes, growth,” he said.

他們也會(huì)重點(diǎn)測(cè)量一些重要的物種。哈本說：“我們?cè)噲D測(cè)量一些重要物種的生命體征，以此找到它們的飲食變化和生長(zhǎng)之間的關(guān)系。”

8月24日，在英國(guó)倫敦動(dòng)物園，一只龜在秤上稱重。新華社發(fā)(倫敦動(dòng)物園供圖)

So far, a penguin named Heathcliff came in at 4.25 kilograms; and the Pygmy goats, Bramble, Polly and Ellie, tipped the scales at 21.5 kg, 19.7 kg and 15.8 kg.

迄今為止，已測(cè)得一只叫西斯克里夫的企鵝體重為4.25千克;侏儒山羊布蘭布爾、波利和埃莉的體重分別為21.5千克，19.7千克和15.8千克。

You would think that, given its height and weight, the giraffe would be the hardest animal to weigh. But you would be wrong.

你會(huì)認(rèn)為，因?yàn)殚L(zhǎng)頸鹿太高太重，所以要對(duì)其進(jìn)行測(cè)量最為困難。但是你錯(cuò)了。

Yes, it does need “an extremely large set of scales,” and must be maneuvered onto platforms, Habben said.

哈本說，是的，給長(zhǎng)頸鹿稱重是需要非常非常大的秤，而且必須在平地上進(jìn)行。

But when it comes down to which animal is the trickiest to weigh, he said, laughing, “the fish are pretty difficult, as you can imagine.”

但是談到最難稱重的動(dòng)物，哈本笑著說，“你可以想象，魚是最難稱重的。”

So the zoo just doesn’t bother: “We just measure and count them.”

所以倫敦動(dòng)物園也不自尋煩惱，“我們只測(cè)量身長(zhǎng)，清點(diǎn)數(shù)量。”

8月24日，在英國(guó)倫敦動(dòng)物園，一只大猩猩觀察“身高尺”。新華社發(fā)(倫敦動(dòng)物園供圖)

Then there are the aptly named squirrel monkeys. For one thing, they are spread across 16 large enclosures. And some have had babies: two to be precise.

名字取得很巧妙的松鼠猴位列魚類之后。一則，它們分散在16個(gè)大的圍欄中，而且一些還懷孕了，準(zhǔn)確說是兩只。

And for another, they live up to their names.

其二，它們沒有辜負(fù)它們的名字，很好動(dòng)。

“You’ll have eight or nine of them trying to jump on the scales,” he said. “They’re more interested in playing. They’re pretty cheeky.”

哈本說，“可能會(huì)有八九個(gè)松鼠猴同時(shí)跳到秤上，它們更想玩兒，非常放肆。”

The weigh-ins are taking place during visiting hours, he said. And Friday was an especially good day to be at the London Zoo. It was an opportunity for visitors to gawk — but pretend that everything was oh so normal.

哈本說，稱重的工作會(huì)在動(dòng)物園開園期間進(jìn)行。周五是去倫敦動(dòng)物園的好時(shí)機(jī)，參觀者有機(jī)會(huì)看熱鬧，但是他們最好假裝一切如常。

There’s a goat — stepping on a scale.

一只山羊走到了秤上。

And that gorilla? It’s sidling up to a giant measuring board.

大猩猩呢?它正悄悄走近一個(gè)巨大的稱重臺(tái)。

Nothing to see here. Nothing much at all.

沒什么好看的!沒什么大不了的!