100多年來第一只灰狼可能已經回到了法國北部

100多年來第一只灰狼可能已經回到了法國北部

After an absence of more than 100 years, the iconic gray wolf may have returned to northern France.

在消失了100多年后，標志性的灰狼可能又回到了法國北部。

According to the French Biodiversity Office, an animal closely resembling one was captured in images taken by an automatic surveillance camera. The very wolf-like creature was traveling alone in the middle of the night on April 8 near the northeast village of Londinières.

根據法國生物多樣性辦公室的說法，在自動監(jiān)控攝像頭拍攝的圖像中，有一種動物與這種動物非常相似。4月8日深夜，這只非常像狼的生物在法國東北部村莊隆迪尼埃爾附近獨自旅行。

The French Biodiversity Office, a government agency that monitors the country's wolf population, claims to have "authenticated this observation as very probably being a grey wolf."

法國生物多樣性辦公室是一個政府機構，負責監(jiān)測該國的狼的數量。該機構聲稱，已“證實這一觀察結果極有可能是一只灰狼”。

Gray wolves, while numerous in parts of Canada and the U.S., have only recently returned to continental Europe. (Photo: Paul A Carpenter/Shutterstock)

"The photo was analyzed by several people experienced in the identification of the wolf and who concluded that there was a high probability," a spokesperson from the agency tells Newsweek. "However, it cannot 100 percent be said it is a wolf. Only DNA analysis on biological material would remove doubts."

該機構的一位發(fā)言人告訴《新聞周刊》說:“這張照片是由幾位有辨識狼的經驗的人分析過的，他們得出的結論是有很高的可能性。然而，不能百分之百地說它是一只灰狼。只有對生物材料進行DNA分析才能消除疑慮。”

If it is indeed a European gray wolf, it would mark a promising — if modest — return to a land it was once driven from. Gray wolves, once considered the bane of farmers for their livestock-ravaging ways, were over-hunted to the point they disappeared from all of France. But over the last 30 years, they have taken tentative steps toward a return, starting with a few of their numbers crossing over the Alps from Italy.

如果它真的是一只歐洲灰狼，那將標志著它有希望——如果是適度的話——回到它曾經被趕走的那片土地。灰狼，曾經被認為是農民的禍根，因為他們破壞牲畜的方式，被過度捕獵，以至于他們從整個法國消失了。但在過去的30年里，他們已經采取了試探性的措施，開始從意大利越過阿爾卑斯山。

"The species is known for its great dispersal capacity, especially during the territory search phase," a representative from the French Biodiversity Office explained to The Local in January. "Thus, since its reappearance in the Southern Alps in 1992, the wolf has crossed territories as far away as the Pyrenees, Lorraine, Burgundy and the Somme."

今年1月，法國生物多樣性辦公室的一名代表向當地媒體解釋說:“該物種以其強大的分散能力而聞名，尤其是在領土搜索階段。因此，自1992年在南阿爾卑斯山重新出現以來，狼已經越過了比利牛斯山脈、洛林、勃艮第和索姆河等遙遠的地區(qū)。”

Today, there are about 530 wolves in France, mostly confined to the regions near the Alps and the Italian border. But their numbers are likely to grow thanks to their status as "protected" under the EU's Bern Convention.

如今，法國約有530只狼，大多生活在阿爾卑斯山和意大利邊境附近。但由于它們在歐盟伯爾尼公約下的“受保護”地位，它們的數量可能還會增長。

And it appears at least one gray wolf has now made it as far north as Normandy, the region where the latest image was taken.

至少有一只灰狼已經到達了北部的諾曼底，也就是拍攝這張照片的地方。

How humans and carnivores are sharing space

人類和食肉動物如何共享空間

Karakachans guard sheep in Bulgaria. The dogs, which are used to protect grazing animals, are known for their bravery in fighting back against both wolves and bears. (Photo: Semperviva [CC BY-SA 3.0]/Wikimedia)

Farmers may not be as thrilled as conservationists about the wolf's return to the north, but times have changed since their only resort was to hunt them down.

農民們可能不會像自然資源保護論者那樣對狼的回歸感到興奮，但是時代已經變了，因為他們唯一的選擇就是獵殺它們。

In the Dinaric Alps to the south, where hundreds of wolves, along with thousands of bears and other wild carnivores roam, farmers have adopted less lethal ways to protect their livestock.

在南部的迪納里克阿爾卑斯山脈，有幾百只狼，還有幾千只熊和其他野生食肉動物在那里游蕩，農民們采用了不那么致命的方法來保護他們的牲畜。

Those measures include guard dogs, surveillance equipment and, of course, one of the most reliable assurances of good neighborly relations: fences.

這些措施包括警犬、監(jiān)控設備，當然還有最可靠的睦鄰關系保證之一:圍欄。

Only these fences, according to Euronews, are nearly six-feet tall and pack a jolt.

據歐洲新聞網站Euronews報道，這些護欄有近六英尺高，能夠產生震動。

"It's very important that the fence always has electricity, even if the animals are not in the pen," one farmer tells the news agency. "That way, large carnivores will associate touching the electric fence with pain, and no longer approach, no longer attack the livestock."

一位農民告訴新聞機構:“籬笆總是通電是非常重要的，即使動物不在圍欄里。這樣，大型食肉動物就會把觸摸電圍欄和疼痛聯系起來，不再靠近，也不再攻擊牲畜。”