The return of Mongolia's "wild" horses - Nigel Rothfels

翻译人员: Jacky He 校对人员: JENNY SUN

For thousands of years, native Takhi horses roamed the steppes of Central Asia.

几千年来，土生土长的蒙古野马 一直在中亚的大草原上游荡。

But by the late 1960s, they’d become extinct in the wild—

但到 1960 年代后期， 它们在野外灭绝了——

the last herds struggling in meager habitats

最后一批在贫瘠的栖息地

against hunters and competition from local livestock.

防备着猎人并与当地牲畜竞争。

Some small groups of Takhi survived in European zoos,

一些小群的蒙古野马 在欧洲的动物园里幸存下来，

but their extinction still seemed inevitable.

但它们的灭绝似乎仍然是不可避免的。

To prevent this terrible fate,

为了防止这种可怕的命运，

a coalition of scientists and zoos pulled together

一个由科学家和动物园组成的联盟

to start an international Takhi breeding program.

开始了一个国际蒙古野马的繁殖计划。

By the 1990s, these collaborators in Europe and the US

到20世纪90年代，这些 在欧洲和美国的合作者

began releasing new generations of Asia’s ancient wild horse

开始将新一代的亚洲古老野马

back into their native habitat.

放归到它们的原生地。

This Takhi revival was a world-famous conservation victory,

这次蒙古野马复兴是 举世闻名的保护胜利。

but the full story is much more complicated than it first appears.

但整个故事比表面看起来更为复杂。

And its twists and turns raise serious questions about the role of zoos

而它的曲折引发了关于动物园的作用

and what conservation even means.

和保护的意义的严肃质疑。

To get the whole story, we need to start in the late 1800s

为了了解整个故事， 我们需要从19世纪末开始，

when Russian explorer Nikolay Przhevalsky was gifted

当时俄罗斯探险家尼古拉·普热瓦尔斯基得到了

the remains of one of these wild horses.

其中一匹野马的遗骸作为礼物。

Though the Takhi had long been known to local Mongolians,

尽管蒙古野马早已为当地蒙古人所熟知，

European scientists were intrigued by the remains,

但欧洲科学家对这些遗骸很感兴趣，

which looked more like those of a donkey or zebra than any known domestic horse.

它们看起来更像驴或斑马， 而不是任何已知的家养马。

They concluded the species was a sort of missing link

他们得出结论，该物种是

between wild asses and modern horses.

野驴和现代马之间缺失的一环。

And as reports of the newly dubbed Przhevalsky’s horse

随着有关蒙古野马被新命名为普氏野马

circulated through Europe and America,

在欧洲和美洲流传的报道，

zoo proprietors became eager to acquire the previously unknown species.

动物园经营者开始渴望获得 以前不为人知的物种。

At this time, zoos were focused primarily on drawing visitors with exotic animals,

此时，动物园主要关注的是 用异国动物吸引游客，

and their exhibitions were more concerned with entertainment than animal welfare.

他们的展览更关注娱乐而不是动物的安康。

But in the early 1900s, the near extinction of the American bison

但在 1900 年代初期， 美洲野牛几近灭绝，

and the total extinction of other species like the passenger pigeon

以及候鸽等其他物种的彻底灭绝

inspired zoos to rebrand as centers for conservation.

激发了动物园采用保护中心的名称。

And as it became clear that Przhevalsky’s horse might be headed for a similar fate,

当人们意识到普氏野马 可能会面临类似的命运时，

zoos began breeding programs to sustain the captive population.

动物园开始了繁殖计划以维持圈养种群。

However, the individuals behind these programs came to an interesting conclusion

然而，这些项目背后的个人得出了一个

about how the horses should be bred.

关于如何饲养马匹的有趣结论。

Like their colleagues, they believed the species represented a missing link

和他们的同事一样，他们认为该物种代表了

between modern domestic horses and their more primitive ancestors.

现代家马与其更原始的祖先之间缺失的一环。

They also knew that some of the horses in their collections weren’t purebred Takhi,

他们还知道，他们收藏的一些马 不是纯种的蒙古野马，

and many didn’t even resemble the species’ standard description.

许多甚至与该物种的标准描述不符。

So breeders felt it was up to them to determine what a wild Takhi

因此，育种者认为由他们 来决定野生蒙古野马

should look like,

应该是什么样子，

and breed them accordingly.

并据此进行繁殖。

Basing their work on just a few specimens and broad beliefs

他们的工作仅基于几个样本和对

about what a primitive horse might look like,

原始马可能长什么样子的广泛看法，

they created a rigorous model for the ideal Takhi.

他们为理想的蒙古野马 创建了一个严格的模型。

And over the 20th century,

在 20 世纪，

breeders in western zoos and private collections

西方动物园和私人收藏的繁育者

created a population of thousands of horses

创造了数以千计的马种群，

all carefully bred to share the same physical characteristics.

所有这些马都经过精心培育， 具有相同的身体特征。

Of course, in their native habitat,

当然，在它们的原生栖息地，

wild Takhi had regularly interbred with domesticated horses for millennia,

野生蒙古马与家养马匹有规律地 杂交了数千年，

producing a population with much more diverse appearances.

产生了一个外观更加多样化的种群。

So when it was time to introduce the Takhi to their ancestral home,

因此，当将蒙古野马 被引入他们的祖先家园时，

they were quite different from the horses

他们与一个世纪前

who’d been taken from those steppes a century earlier.

从那些草原上带走的马截然不同。

Complicating things even further,

更复杂的是，

while these new Takhi herds were no longer in zoos,

虽然这些新的蒙古野马群不再在动物园里，

to this day, almost all remain closely monitored

但直到今天，几乎所有的蒙古野马群 都受到密切监视

and controlled for their own protection.

和控制，以保护它们。

So in a strange way, it’s hard to say if these animals are actually in the wild

所以以一种奇怪的角度， 很难说这些动物是否真的存在于野外，

or even if they’re truly Takhi.

甚至很难说它们是否真的是蒙古野马。

The story of the Takhi horse is not unique.

蒙古野马的故事并不独特。

In many of our conservation victories,

在我们取得的许多保护成果中，

it’s difficult to say exactly what was saved,

很难准确地说出保存了什么，

and the role that zoos play in conservation can be very complicated.

而且动物园在保护中扮演的角色 可能非常复杂。

It's clear that zoos have been and can continue to be significant forces

很明显，动物园已经并将继续成为

for animal preservation,

动物保护的重要力量，

especially efforts to save charismatic animals from extinction.

尤其是拯救具有超凡魅力的动物 免于灭绝的努力。

But today, the most direct cause of animal extinctions

但今天，动物灭绝的最直接原因

are humanity’s impacts on animal habitats and Earth’s climate.

是人类对动物栖息地 和地球气候的影响。

So if zoos truly want to help protect the diversity of animal life on this planet,

因此，如果动物园真的想帮助保护 这个星球上动物生命的多样性，

perhaps they should redirect their efforts

或许他们应该重新努力转向

to preserving the natural habitats these animals so desperately need.

保护这些动物迫切需要的自然栖息地。