The spear-wielding stork who revolutionized science - Lucy Cooke

Translator: Elda Indria Sari Reviewer: Nathaniel Luis Reyhan Soesilo

In May of 1822, Count Christian Ludwig von Bothmer

Di bulan Mei 1822, Count Christian Ludwig von Bothmer

shot down a stork over his castle grounds in North Germany.

menembak jatuh seekor bangau di halaman kastelnya di Jerman Utara.

However, he wasn’t the first person to hunt that specific bird.

Namun, dia bukan orang pertama yang memburu burung tersebut.

Upon recovering the stork,

Saat hendak mengambil bangau itu,

von Bothmer found it impaled by a yard long wooden spear.

von Bothmer menemukannya tertusuk tombak kayu sepanjang satu meter.

A local professor determined the weapon was African in origin,

Seorang profesor setempat menyatakan senjata itu berasal dari Afrika,

suggesting that somehow, this stork was speared in Africa

sehingga nampaknya entah bagaimana bangau ini ditombak di Afrika,

and then flew over 2,500 kilometers to the count’s castle.

lalu terbang lebih dari 2.500 kilometer sampai ke kastel sang count.

This astonishing flight wasn’t just evidence of the stork’s resilience.

Penerbangan menakjubkan ini bukan hanya bukti kekuatan si bangau.

It was an essential clue in a mystery that plagued scientists for centuries:

Ini petunjuk penting dari misteri yang menghantui ilmuwan berabad-abad lamanya:

the seasonal disappearance of birds.

menghilangnya burung secara musiman.

Ancient naturalists had various theories to explain the annual vanishing act

Pakar cagar alam kuno punya banyak teori untuk menjelaskan aksi menghilang tahunan

we now know as migration.

yang kini kita kenal sebagai migrasi.

Aristotle himself proposed three particularly popular ideas.

Aristoteles sendiri mengajukan khususnya tiga gagasan populer.

One theory was that birds transformed into different bodies that suited the season.

Salah satu teorinya adalah burung berganti wujud untuk menyesuaikan musim.

For example, summer time garden warblers

Contohnya, burung garden warbler masa musim panas

were believed to transform into black caps every winter.

dipercaya berubah wujud menjadi burung blackcap tiap musim dingin.

In reality these are two distinct species— similar in shape and size,

Kenyataannya, mereka dua spesies berbeda— mirip dalam bentuk dan ukuran,

but never appearing at the same time.

tetapi tak pernah muncul bersamaan.

Over the following centuries, birds were said to morph into humans,

Selama berabad-abad berikutnya, burung dikatakan berubah jadi manusia,

plants, and even the timbers of ships.

tumbuhan, dan bahkan kayu kapal.

This last transmutation was especially popular with many Christian clergy.

Transmutasi yang terakhir terutama populer di kalangan pendeta Kristen.

If barnacle geese were truly made of wood,

Jika angsa teritip benar-benar terbuat dari kayu,

they could be deemed vegetarian and enjoyed during meatless fasts.

mereka bisa dianggap vegetarian dan disantap saat puasa makan daging.

Aristotle’s second and even more enduring hypothesis was that birds hibernate.

Hipotesis kedua Aristoteles yang bahkan lebih langgeng adalah burung berhibernasi.

This isn’t so far-fetched.

Ini tak terlalu mengada-ada.

Some species do enter short,

Beberapa spesies memang memasuki masa tidur nyenyak singkat

deep sleeps which lower their heart rates and metabolisms.

yang memperlambat detak jantung dan metabolismenya.

And there’s at least one truly hibernating bird:

Lalu, setidaknya ada satu burung yang benar-benar berhibernasi:

the common poorwill sleeps out winters in the deserts of North America.

Burung common poorwill tidur selama musim dingin di gurun Amerika Utara.

But researchers were proposing much more outlandish forms of hibernation

Namun, para peneliti mengemukakan bentuk hibernasi yang lebih aneh lagi

well into the 19th century.

hingga abad ke-19.

Barn swallows were said to remove their feathers and hibernate in holes,

Burung layang-layang asia diyakini menanggalkan bulunya dan tidur di lubang,

or sleep through the winter at the bottom of lakes and rivers.

atau tidur selama musim dingin di dasar danau dan sungai.

Aristotle’s final theory was much more reasonable,

Teori terakhir Aristoteles jauh lebih masuk akal,

and resembled something like realistic migration.

dan mirip dengan migrasi yang realistis.

However, this idea was also taken to extremes.

Namun, ide ini juga dianggap ekstrem.

In 1666, the leading migration advocate was convinced that each winter,

Di tahun 1666, penggagas migrasi terkemuka yakin bahwa tiap musim dingin,

birds flew to the moon.

burung-burung terbang ke bulan.

It might seem strange that prominent researchers considered such bizarre ideas.

Tampaknya aneh para peneliti terkemuka percaya ide ganjil semacam itu.

But to be fair, the true story of migration

Namun sejujurnya, kisah nyata migrasi

may be even harder to believe than their wildest theories.

mungkin lebih sulit dipercaya daripada teorinya yang paling liar.

Roughly 20% of all bird species migrate each year,

Sekitar 20% dari semua spesies burung bermigrasi setiap tahun,

following warm weather and fresh food around the planet.

mengikuti cuaca hangat dan makanan segar di seluruh dunia.

For birds who spend their summers in the northern hemisphere,

Bagi burung yang menghabiskan musim panas di belahan bumi utara,

this journey can span from 700 to over 17,000 kilometers,

perjalanan ini bisa berjarak mulai dari 700 hingga melebihi 17.000 kilometer,

with some flights lasting as long as four months.

dan beberapa bisa memakan waktu hingga empat bulan.

Birds who migrate across oceans may soar without stopping for over 100 hours.

Burung yang bermigrasi melintasi lautan bisa terbang nonstop lebih dari 100 jam.

Sleeping and eating on the fly, they navigate the endless ocean

Mereka tidur dan makan saat terbang, melintasi lautan tak bertepi

by the stars, wind currents, and Earth’s magnetic field.

mengikuti bintang, arus angin, dan medan magnet bumi.

Tracking the specifics of these epic expeditions is notoriously difficult.

Melacak detail ekspedisi epik ini amatlah sulit.

And while birds often take the most direct route possible,

Walau burung sering mengambil rute yang paling cepat,

storms and human development can alter their paths,

badai dan perkembangan manusia dapat mengubah rute mereka,

further complicating our attempts to chart migration.

dan semakin menyulitkan upaya kita memetakan migrasi.

Fortunately, Count von Bothmer’s stork offered physical proof

Untungnya, bangau Count von Bothmer memberikan bukti fisik

not only that European storks were migrating south for the winter,

bahwa bangau Eropa tak hanya bermigrasi ke selatan saat musim dingin,

but also where they were migrating to.

tetapi juga bukti mengenai tujuan migrasi mereka.

Ornithologists across the continent

Ahli ilmu burung di seluruh dunia

were eager to map the trajectory of this flight,

sangat ingin memetakan lintasan penerbangan ini,

including Johannes Thienemann.

termasuk Johannes Thienemann.

Owner of the world’s first permanent bird observatory,

Sebagai pemilik observatorium burung pertama dan permanen di dunia,

Thienemann was a major public advocate for the study of birds.

Thienemann adalah penggagas umum utama dalam studi tentang burung.

And to solve the field’s biggest mystery,

Untuk memecahkan misteri terbesar itu,

he wrangled an army of volunteers from across Germany.

dia mengumpulkan sekelompok sukarelawan dari seluruh Jerman.

His team used aluminum rings to tag the legs of two thousand storks

Timnya memakai cincin alumunium untuk menandai kaki dua ribu bangau

with unique numbers and the address of his offices.

dengan angka unik dan alamat kantornya.

Then he advertised the initiative as widely as possible.

Kemudian dia menyebarkan prakarsa itu seluas mungkin.

His hope was that word of the experiment would find its way to Africa,

Dia berharap kabar eksperimen tersebut akan sampai ke Afrika

so people finding the tags would know to mail them back with more information.

agar si penemu tanda akan mengirimnya kembali dengan lebih banyak informasi.

Sure enough, from 1908 to 1913,

Benar saja, dari tahun 1908 hingga 1913,

Thienemann received 178 rings, 48 of which had been found in Africa.

Thienemann menerima 178 cincin, 48 di antaranya ditemukan di Afrika.

Using this data, he plotted the first migration route ever discovered,

Dengan data ini, dia menggambar rute migrasi pertama yang ditemukan,

and definitively established that storks were not, in fact, flying to the moon.

dan menetapkan secara pasti, bahwa bangau tidak terbang ke bulan.