Are pandas the most misunderstood animal? - Lucy Cooke

翻译人员: Jing Quan 校对人员: suya f.

In the late 1930s, a grand panda drama unfolded at the Chicago Zoo.

20 世纪 30 年代末，

芝加哥动物园 上演了一场大型熊猫闹剧。

Su-Lin, who had been a media darling since she was a cub,

从幼年起就一直是媒体宠儿的苏琳

passed away.

去世了。

Zookeepers were already in the process

动物园管理员已经在寻找

of procuring another female panda named Mei Mei,

另一只名叫美美的雌性熊猫，

and they were determined to find her a mate before tragedy struck again.

他们决心在悲剧再次发生 之前为她寻找伴侣。

So when they acquired a prospective suitor named Mei Lan,

因此，当他们收购了 一个名叫美兰的潜在对象时，

it seemed their troubles were over.

他们的麻烦似乎已经结束了。

Magazines monitored their progress,

杂志监测了他们的进展，

and the public eagerly awaited the patter of tiny panda paws.

公众热切地等待着熊猫宝贝的诞生。

But the wait dragged on.

但是等了很久都没动静。

At first, headlines declared that Mei Mei was "getting nowhere" with her love life.

起初，头条新闻称 美美的爱情生活“一无所获”。

But eventually zookeepers realized their significant slip-up:

但是最终动物园管理员 意识到了他们的重大失误：

both bears were male.

两只熊猫都是雄性。

This is just one of many mistakes humans have made when it comes to pandas.

这只是人类在大熊猫 问题上犯的众多错误之一。

We've incorrectly classified them as raccoons,

我们错误地将它们归类为浣熊，

misrepresented them as cuddly vegetarians,

错误地将他们描述为可爱的素食主义者，

and— since the doomed union of Mei Mei and Mei Lan—

而且，自从美美和美兰的结盟失败以来，

declared them as incompetent lovers.

我们就宣布他们是无能的情人。

Some people have taken this even further,

有些人甚至更进一步，

suggesting it's remarkable this sex-shy species

表明这种对性行为不屑一顾的物种能够

has been able to sustain themselves at all.

自给自足真是太了不起了。

However, this common perception of pandas having low libidos

但是，这种对熊猫性欲低下的普遍看法

actually has more to do with human incompetence.

实际上更多地与人类的不称职有关。

When it comes to breeding pandas in captivity,

在人工饲养大熊猫方面，

zookeepers face multiple challenges.

动物园管理员面临着多重挑战。

As the Chicago case suggests, it can be tricky to figure out a panda's sex.

正如芝加哥案例所示，

弄清楚熊猫的性别 可能是件麻烦事。

Their external genitals don't appear until they're a few months old,

它们的外生殖器直到几个月大才出现，

and once visible, they look very similar.

一旦可见，它们看起来非常相似。

This forces zookeepers to rely on inconsistent methods,

这迫使动物园管理员依赖不一致的方法，

like trying to measure the distance between the anus and genitals,

例如试图测量肛门和生殖器之间的距离，

or simply going by feel.

或者干脆根据感觉来衡量。

And even when males and females are paired up correctly,

而且，即使雄性和雌性配对正确，

chemistry isn't guaranteed.

也不能保证化学反应。

In one case at the Moscow Zoo,

在莫斯科动物园的一起案例中，

a female bear that had been isolated from other animals

一只与其他动物隔离的雌熊猫

proved more interested in zookeepers than other pandas.

对动物园管理员的兴趣 比对其他熊猫更浓。

Complicating things further,

更复杂的是，

female pandas can only be impregnated 1 to 3 days each year

雌性大熊猫每年只能受精1至3天，

due to their incredibly short ovulation window.

因为她们的排卵期太短了。

Zookeepers try to track fertility levels by measuring the hormones in their urine,

动物园管理员试图通过测量 尿液中的激素来追踪生育水平，

but this data is often cryptic to decipher and messy to capture.

但是这些数据通常难以解密， 捕捉起来也很麻烦。

Females have also evolved the ability to reabsorb their own fetuses,

雌性熊猫还进化了 重新吸收自己胎儿的能力，

meaning that even a successful impregnation can be reversed.

这意味着即使成功的受孕也可以逆转。

The difficulty of breeding pandas has reinforced the idea

繁殖大熊猫的困难强化了人们的观念，

that they're not naturally inclined to procreate.

即它们天生就不倾向于繁殖。

But there's a huge gap between how these animals behave in captivity

但是，这些动物在人工饲养中的行为

and the privacy of the wild.

与野外居住之间存在巨大差距。

Prowling through her home territory,

一只雌性熊猫在自己的家园中徘徊，

a female panda rubs her anal glands on tree trunks to attract mates,

在树干上摩擦肛门腺以吸引伴侣，

then waits in the treetops bleating as loudly as she can.

然后在树梢上等待，尽可能大声地尖叫。

Soon enough, males crowd around the tree and compete for her attention

很快，雄性就会聚集在树上， 争夺她的注意力，

by seeing who can pee the highest.

方式是通过看看谁能撒尿得最高。

Suitors adopt a variety of poses in these competitions,

在这些比赛中，求偶者会采用各种姿势，

including the "squat," "legcock," and "handstand."

包括 ”深蹲姿势”、 “腿部鸡巴”和 “倒立”。

They're also known to dab urine behind their ears

众所周知，他们会在耳后轻涂尿液，

to broadcast their virility through the breeze.

通过微风传播自己的男子气概。

Once a female picks a winner,

一旦雌性选出赢家，

the mating pair will often have sex over 40 times in a single afternoon.

他们通常会在一个下午 发生超过 40 次的性行为。

At these rates, you might expect panda populations to be booming,

以这样的速度， 你可能会预期熊猫的数量的激增，

especially since panda sperm is incredibly potent.

尤其是因为熊猫的精子非常强大。

But females' short ovulation cycles and ability to reabsorb fetuses

但是雌性较短的排卵周期 和再吸收胎儿的能力，

keep the population in check.

使数量受到控制。

In the wild, young pandas are usually able to witness at least one breeding season

在野外，幼熊猫通常能够在性成熟

before reaching sexual maturity,

之前目睹至少一个繁殖季节，

giving them time to learn the rituals of seduction.

这使它们有时间学习诱惑的仪式。

But in captivity, pandas are never able to learn these customs.

但是在圈养中， 熊猫永远无法学习这些习俗。

And while breeders have tried to kick start young pandas' sexual awakenings

尽管饲养者试图通过 向幼熊猫展示成熟熊猫的交配镜头

by showing them footage of mating elders and offering them doses of Viagra,

来唤起幼熊的性欲，并向他们提供伟哥，

none of these strategies have worked consistently.

但这些策略都没有持续奏效。

The most reliable approach they've found is artificial insemination,

他们发现的最可靠的方法是人工授精，

which has dramatically increased the captive population

在过去的几十年中，人工授精极大地

in the past few decades.

增加了圈养数目。

But if pandas are so much better at reproducing in the wild,

但是，如果大熊猫在野外 繁殖的能力要好得多，

one has to ask why are conservation efforts so focused on breeding them.

人们不禁要问，

为什么保护工作 如此集中在繁殖上。

Maybe our time would be better spent

也许我们的时间最好花在

protecting the pandas' natural environments,

保护大熊猫的自然环境上，

giving them all the space they need to get down to business.

为它们提供开展工作所需的所有空间。