The Otters of Singapore — and Other Unexpected Wildlife Thriving in Cities | Philip Johns | TED

翻译人员: Ziang Liu 校对人员: Manlin Fang

When I first moved to Singapore, I thought it was magical.

当我第一次搬到新加坡时， 我觉得它太神奇了。

Here's this clean, bright, pretty, well-run city

这是这座干净、明亮、 漂亮、运行良好的城市，

with twisted, tall skyscrapers made of steel and glass

由钢和玻璃 制成的弯曲的高大摩天大楼

that's rising out of what's left of a tropical rainforest.

从热带雨林 的剩余部分拔地而起。

And it wasn't just tropical rainforests, it was animals.

而且不只是热带 雨林，还有动物。

Walk around and you see sunbirds flitting amongst the flowers.

四处走动，你会看到太阳鸟在花丛 中飞掠。

You see hornbills hopping from branch to branch on campus.

你会看到犀鸟在校园里 从树枝跳到树枝。

You see colugos

你会看到美洲狮

and Sumatran flying dragons

和苏门答腊飞蜥

and paradise tree snakes gliding from tree to tree.

还有天堂树蛇从一棵树 滑到另一棵树。

All of this was just so amazing to me.

这些对我来说全都太神奇了。

The first week I came to Singapore

我来到新加坡的第一周，

there was a fight during the day, out in the open

一场光天化日下的战斗，

between a king cobra and a reticulated python

发生在了一条眼镜王蛇 和一条网纹蟒之间

on the campus of NTU.

就在南洋理工的校园中。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

That same first week there was video of --

同样在第一周有个视频——

and I'm trying to think which way I'm looking.

我在试着想我在看 哪个方向。

There was video of a pangolin walking down the stairway

有一段视频中的一只穿山甲在向下走过

between Yale-NUS and RC4.

耶鲁-新加坡国立和RC4之间的楼梯。

I started to look for a place to live.

我开始寻找住处。

And I went to a flat that I wanted to rent.

然后我去了一个我想租 的公寓。

And I walked out on the balcony and a parakeet flew,

接着我走到阳台上， 一只长尾小鹦鹉飞了起来，

a wild parakeet flew and landed on my shoulder.

一只野生的长尾小鹦鹉飞了起来， 落在了我的肩膀上。

And the property manager asked me, "Are you going to take the flat?"

然后物业经理问我 ：“你打算把这套公寓拿走吗？”

And I said, "Of course I am.

然后我说：“我当然要。

A little bird told me to."

一只小鸟叫我这么做。”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

This was just amazing to me.

这对我来说太神奇了。

Everything about Singapore was just incredible to me.

新加坡的一切对我 来说简直不可思议。

When I first moved here, I kept wondering to myself, you know,

当我第一次搬到这里时， 我一直在想，你知道，

what is this place with these tall, twisted skyscrapers?

这是什么样的地方才会有这些高大 弯曲的摩天大楼？

And at the same time, we have brightly-colored birds flying,

以及同时， 我们有色彩鲜艳的鸟儿在飞，

hornbills that are eyeing people on campus,

有犀鸟在盯着 校园里的人，

gliding lizards and colugos and snakes.

滑翔的蜥蜴、美洲狮和蛇。

It was just amazing to me.

这对我来说太神奇了。

To me, it was utterly fantastical.

对我来说，这简直太奇异了。

And everything, everywhere, was otters.

而且到处都是水獭。

So the otters started to blow up on social media

就在我2015年来到新加坡之前，

just before I came to Singapore in 2015,

水獭们开始在社交媒体上大放异彩

and one family in particular started to get a lot of attention,

特别是一个家族 开始受到广泛关注，

the Bishan family,

即碧山家族，

because it lived downtown near all the famous landmarks of Singapore.

因为它们住在市中心靠近 新加坡所有著名地标的地方。

And so they were getting a lot of attention,

因此，他们受到了 很多关注，

and this was really exciting to me.

这对我来说真的很令人兴奋。

And this is a video from 2016.

这是一段2016年的视频。

These are phone videos for the most part,

这些大部分都是手机视频，

but this is the Bishan mom,

但这是碧山妈妈，

and these are her second brood of pups.

这是她的第二批幼崽。

Now we never get this close to otters anymore,

现在我们再也没有 这么接近水獭了，

so I deserve some scolding.

所以我应该受到一些责骂了。

Those are some Yale-NUS students and an otter watcher.

那些是一些耶鲁-新加坡国立大学的学生 和一个水獭观察者。

And if you look upstream, you'll see the Bishan dad with a fish.

如果你往上游看， 你会看到碧山爸爸带着一条鱼。

And those whining noises.

还有那些抱怨的噪音。

Those are begging calls from the pups.

那些是幼崽乞讨的叫声。

That is a little bit of something that's not actually in my script.

那是一些实际上不在我的剧本中的东西。

You can see the otters are sprainting, they have a communal latrine site.

你可以看到水獭在冲刺， 它们有一个公共厕所。

And I didn't know this because I just started.

而且我对这个不了解， 因为我才刚开始。

And so I was actually sitting in their latrine.

所以我实际上正坐 在他们的公共厕所里。

These otters that are swimming upriver here,

这些是上游的水獭，

these are the prior year's brood.

这些是它们前一年的巢穴。

So these are three-yearling otters, they're are sexually mature otters

所以这些是三岁的水獭， 它们是性成熟的水獭

and they stay with the family.

并且它们会跟家人待在一起。

All of this was just incredible to me.

所有这些对我来说简直不可思议。

And part of the reason it was incredible to everybody

让所有人感到不可思议的部分原因

is that the otters were returning after a long absence.

是水獭在离开很久 之后又回来了。

So we know that there were otters in Singapore

因此，我们知道了新加坡早就有水獭了

sometime before the mid-20th century.

在20世纪中叶的某个时候。

And we know partly because of individual accounts,

我们之所以知道，部分 是由于个体的叙述，

but partly because of things like this.

但部分原因是像这样的事情。

This is Haw Par Villa

这是虎豹别墅，

and these are statues of otters in Haw Par Villa.

这些是虎豹别墅中的水獭雕像。

But this installation was moved in 1937.

但是这个雕塑装置在 1937 年被搬迁了。

So before 1937, we know that otters weren't just present in Singapore,

因此，在1937年之前，我们知道水 獭不仅出现在新加坡，

but they were prominent in Singapore.

但在新加坡也很出名。

And prominent enough that their statues were put with Chinese legends.

而且足够引人注目，以至于他们的雕像上刻 有中国传说。

But then Singapore started to change.

但是后来新加坡开始发生变化。

It modernized, it started to industrialize,

它实现了现代化， 开始工业化，

and all of a sudden the waterways got filthy.

水道突然变得肮 脏了。

And what happened was they started to fill with sludge,

接下来发生的便是它们 开始充斥污泥、

industrial pollution and dead animals to the point where they stank.

工业污染和死去的动物 ，直至发臭。

And otters live in water, they eat fish in water,

水獭生活在水中， 它们吃水中的鱼，

and they couldn't eat and live in waterways that were that dirty.

它们无法进食和生活 在如此肮脏的水道中。

So they left.

于是他们离开了。

But things changed again.

但是情况又发生了变化。

Singapore enacted policies to clean up their waterways,

新加坡颁布了清理水道的政策，

and they were really, really successful.

这些政策确实非常成功。

So all of a sudden,

所以突然之间，

instead of having waterways that were filled with filth,

我们的水道不是满 是污物，

we had waterways that were filled with fish.

而是装满了鱼 的水道。

And from the otters' point of view, they were feeding troughs,

从水獭的角度来看， 它们饲料槽，

so they came back.

所以它们回来了。

And now we have lots of otters all over Singapore.

现在我们在新加坡 处都有水獭。

We have about 12 families.

我们有大约 12 个家族。

These are smooth-coated otters.

这些是涂有光滑涂层的水獭。

They're a pretty large otter.

它们是相当大的水獭家族。

The adults get up to about 10 kilograms,

成年水獭的体重可达大约 10 千克，

which is larger than the European common otter.

比欧洲普通水獭还 大。

They're a little bit unusual as mammals go,

because the adult offspring stay with the family as helpers.

因为成年后代作为帮手 留在家里。

So a family group might have two dominant breeding individuals

因此，一个家族群体可能有 两个占主导地位的繁殖个体

and one or two sets of adult offspring that are staying as helpers,

和一两组成年后代 作为助手，

and then a brood of pups, which is pretty typical.

然后是一群幼崽， 这很典型。

The family sizes are quite large in Singapore,

新加坡的水獭家族规模 相当大，

we have families that are over 20 individuals,

我们有的家族 超过20人，

and we have more than a dozen families in Singapore.

我们在新加坡有十几个 家族。

And those families are watched by otter watchers,

这些家族 由水獭观察者监视，

some of whom go out and watch the otters every day.

其中一些人每天都出去看 水獭。

My students worked closely with some of the otter watchers,

我的学生 与一些水獭观察者密切合作，

and we got to find out all sorts of interesting things.

并且我们发现了 各种有趣的东西。

So these are otters playing.

然后这些是水獭在玩。

Otters have a really tough life.

水獭的生活非常艰难。

They wake up in the morning,

他们早上醒来，

they fish, they roll around in the grass,

捕鱼，在草地上滚来滚去，

they play, they go to sleep.

他们玩耍、睡觉。

And then a few hours later, they do it again.

然后几个小时后， 他们又做了一次。

So my students wanted to know

因此，我的学生想知道

whether adults and pups played differently.

成年水獭和幼崽的是否以不同方式去玩。

And what they did to look at this

他们为这个问题做了很多，

is [they] found literally dozens of interactions like this

[他们] 发现了数十 种这样的互动，

and looked at the frequencies of role switching

并研究了角色切换频率

among the individuals who are playing.

在正在玩耍的个体之间。

So the pups here, if you watch them long enough,

因此，这里的幼崽， 如果你看它们的时间足够长，

they do something where one pup will chase the other,

它们 会做一些让一只幼崽追另一只的事，

and then it'll switch roles

然后它会切换角色

so the second pup chases the first.

让第二只幼崽追逐第一只。

It's very much like "Tag, you're it."

这很像 “标签，你就是这样”。

It turns out that pups do this a lot,

事实证明，幼崽经常这样做，

and adults don't do this much at all.

而成年水獭根本不经常这样做。

If an adult is in a dominant position, it stays in a dominant position.

如果成年水獭处于支配地位， 它将保持支配地位。

But this tells us something.

但这反映给我们一些事情。

It tells us something about how play has different functions

它反映给我们一些关于 游戏功能如何不同的信息

for pups versus adults.

当考虑到幼崽和成年水獭之间。

For pups, play is a way that they're figuring things out

对于幼崽来说，游戏是它们弄清楚事情

and they're learning.

和学习的一种方式。

But for adults, they're jockeying for a position in the social group.

但是对于成年人来说，它们是在争夺 社交团体中的职位。

And that's why they don't give up their position of dominance.

这就是为什么它们不放弃 自己的统治地位。

I don't know if you noticed this,

我不知道你们有没有注意到这一点，

it was early in the video, but there's a monitor lizard

那是在视频的早期， 但是有一只监视蜥蜴

that's watching the otters play.

在看水獭的游戏。

And it turns out this is pretty common.

事实证明，这很常见。

Monitor lizards and otters live in the same environments.

监视蜥蜴和水獭生活在相同环境下。

They both eat fish, and they bump into each other all the time.

它们都吃鱼，而且 经常碰到对方。

And otters sometimes attack the monitor lizards,

水獭有时会攻击 监视蜥蜴，

and sometimes they kill the monitor lizards,

有时它们会杀死 监视蜥蜴，

but not all the time.

但并非一直如此。

So my students wanted to know when do otters attack?

所以我的学生想知道水獭 什么时候会袭击？

What conditions lead to the otters attacking sometimes

什么条件会 导致水獭有时会进攻，

but not other times.

但其他时候不进攻。

This is a pair of otters that are approaching a monitor lizard,

这是一对正在接近监视蜥蜴的水獭 ，如果你注意到，

and if you notice, the monitor lizard's frill is open,

监视蜥蜴的褶边是张开的，

its throat frill is open.

它的喉咙褶边是张开的。

It's in an aggressive posture right here.

这里的姿势很激进。

And in fact, just seconds after this picture was taken,

实际上，在拍摄 这张照片仅几秒钟后，

the monitor lizard whipped its tail at the otters.

监视蜥蜴就向水獭挥 了尾巴。

So monitor lizards can also be aggressive.

因此，监视蜥蜴也可以具有攻击性。

But most of the time, including here,

但是大多数时候，包括这里，

they're reacting to the otters.

它们都在对水獭做出反应。

What my students found after looking at dozens of these kinds of interactions,

我的学生 在看了几十种这样的互动后发现，

was that otters were more likely to be aggressive

水獭更有可能 具有攻击性，

if there were pups around,

假如周围有幼崽的话，

and they were most likely to be aggressive

它们会更具有攻击性

if there were more pups in a group than there were adults.

假如幼崽的数量比在场成年人多的话。

So the otters are only aggressive to defend the pups.

因此，水獭只会攻击性 地保护幼崽。

The otters are big and they're fast and smart,

水獭很大，并且它们 又快又聪明，

and they don't really have to worry about the monitor lizards very much.

它们真的不必太 担心监视蜥蜴。

But the pups do because they're small and they're kind of dumb.

但是这些幼崽之所以这样做，是因为它们很小 而且有点傻。

It turns out that pups drive a lot of the things that otters do.

事实证明，幼崽会像水獭一样会做很多 事情。

So watch what's going on here.

所以看看这里发生了什么。

Do you see how they're swimming in a line?

你看见它们是怎么排队的吗？

By the way, we never get this close to otters anymore.

顺便说一句，我们再也不会 这么接近水獭了。

I scold my students if I see this, and I get scolded if I’m this close.

如果我看到这个，我会责骂我的学生 ，如果我离得这么近，我会被责骂的。

We try and give otters a pretty wide berth.

我们尽量给水獭 一个相当宽阔的栖息地。

What they're doing here is catching fish.

它们在正在这里捕鱼。

But what's interesting is they're catching really small fish.

但有趣的是， 它们钓的鱼真的很小。

This is called herding or corralling,

这被称为放牧或围栏，这

depending on the medium in which they're doing it.

取决于他们所使用的媒介。

And it turns out that otters do this only when they have pups.

事实证明，水獭只有在有幼崽时 才会这样做。

And when they do it, they typically catch very small fish.

当它们这样做时，它们通常会 钓到非常小的鱼。

So this isn't a way for them to catch more fish,

因此，这不是它们捕 获更多鱼的方法，

and it isn't a way for them to catch larger fish.

也不是它们捕获 更大鱼的方法。

What it is, is a way for them to teach their pups how to hunt.

这是它们 教幼崽如何狩猎的一种方式。

And it's not just that the pups are learning how to hunt

而且，不仅仅 是幼崽

by being with the adults.

通过与成年人在一起来学习如何狩猎。

It's that the adults are actively changing their behavior

这是因为成年人正在积极 改变自己的行为，

so that they can teach the pups what to do.

这样他们就可以教幼崽 该怎么做。

So all of these discoveries,

因此， 如果没有水獭观察者，

and there are a few more of them,

所有这些发现，还有更多发现，

we couldn't have done without the otter watchers.

我们不可能做到。

And the otter watchers are incredibly dedicated to watching otters.

而且水獭观察者非常 热衷于观察水獭。

We really owe them a lot,

我们真的欠他们一个大人情，

and I really want to kind of voice that gratitude towards them.

我真的很想表达对他们的 感激之情。

And a lot of things motivate otter watchers.

还有很多因素激发了水 獭观察者的动力。

So otter watchers might be curious about the otters,

因此，水獭观察者可能会对水獭 感到好奇，

they might like the otters.

他们可能会喜欢水獭。

But a lot of the otter watchers are photographers,

但是很多水獭观察者 都是摄影师，

and that's their primary hobby.

这是他们的主要爱好。

And for them, this is a chance to get really excellent photographs.

对他们来说，这是拍出 真正精彩照片的机会。

The same thing in Singapore is true with birders.

在新加坡，观鸟者 也是如此。

If you've ever gone birding in Singapore,

如果你曾经在新加坡观，

it's a little bit surreal

那就有点虚幻了，

because rather than go out and look for people with big binoculars,

因为 与其出去寻找带大双筒望远镜的人，

you look for people with big cameras.

不如去寻找拥有大型相机的人。

But otter watching and bird watching are gateways.

但是观赏水獭 和观鸟是方法。

They're gateways for people to interact with nature.

它们是人们与自然互动 的方法。

And so people who might start otter watching

因此，开始观赏水獭的一些人

because they want to get photographs of cute pups,

因为想拍可爱幼崽的照片

might continue to do other things

可能会继续做其他事情，

because they've formed a connection with nature.

因为他们已经与大自然建立 了联系。

And we see this all the time:

我们无时无刻不在看到这一点：

that people care about nature when they form some connection to nature.

当人们与自然形成某种联系 时，他们会关心自然。

Whether that connection is to otters

无论这种联系是与水獭，

or to a pair of hornbills on campus

还是与校园里的一对犀鸟，

or to a bird that visits them on their balcony,

还是与在阳台上拜访他们的 鸟的联系，

we need these personal connections, and we see them all over the place.

我们都需要这些人际关系， 而且我们到处都能看到它们。

So that's one thing to emphasize.

因此，这是要强调的一件事。

But I'm not the only one who's thinking about this.

但我不是唯一一个在考虑这个问题的 人。

Singapore has enacted a lot of policies

新加坡颁布了许多政策，

that make these kinds of connections a lot easier.

使此类 连接变得更加容易。

So we talked about Singapore cleaning up its waterways

然后我们谈到了新加坡

in the '70s and '80s.

在70年代和80年代清理水道。

They've done a lot of other things, too,

他们也做了很多其他事情，

including plant over a million trees.

包括种植超过一百万棵树。

There are over 300 parks and nature reserves.

有 300 多个公园和自然保护区。

Singapore has a plan that no one should be more than 10 minutes away

新加坡有一项计划，任何人离某种公园的

from some kind of park.

距离都 不应超过10分钟。

There are a lot of reasons to do this,

这样做有很多原因，

and some of these are public health reasons.

其中一些 是公共卫生原因。

But one of the effects of this

但其影响之一是

is that people will have more chances to interact with nature,

人们将有更多的机 会与自然互动，

and they'll have more chances to care.

他们将有更多的机会去关心。

So I'm really excited about these possibilities,

因此，我真的对这些可能性感到兴奋，

especially in Singapore,

尤其是在新加坡，

especially because Singapore is one of the most densely populated countries

尤其是因为新加坡是世界上人口最稠密的

in the world.

的国家之一 。

Recently, NParks changed its motto.

最近，NParks改变了座右铭。

NParks had the motto that Singapore is a city in a garden,

NParks的座右铭 是新加坡是花园中的城市，

and they changed it to Singapore is the city in nature.

他们将其改 为新加坡是自然中的城市。

And I think this is a real effort on Singapore's part

而且我认为这是新加坡为改变 他们看

to shift how they view their relationship to nature.

待与自然的关系所做的真正努力 。

I think we're trying to get away from something

我认为我们正在 努力逃离大自然

where nature is over there on the other side of a fence

在栅栏或墙壁的另一边

or a wall or something like that.

或类似的东西。

Nature is something that's around us

大自然是我们身边、

and above us and beside us,

我们之上和我们身边的东西，

and Singapore is acknowledging that.

新加坡正在承认这一点。

And that's true in lots of places, including in cities.

在许多地方， 包括城市，都是如此。

So I think this also raises other questions,

因此，我认为这还引出了 其他问题，

such as: Can cities be wildlife refuges?

例如：城市可以成为野生动物保护区吗？

Is the biodiversity we see in Singapore,

我们在新加坡看到的生物多样性，

is this the last hot ember of the biodiversity that was here before?

会是以前生物多样性的最后一个 还有余热的余烬吗？

Or is this something that we can protect and maybe foster and grow?

还是这是我们可以保护甚至可以培育 和成长的东西？

Lots of cities have wildlife, it's not just Singapore.

许多城市都有野生动物 ，不只是新加坡。

Most North American cities have wildlife like raccoons and coyotes,

大多数北美城市都有浣熊和土狼 等野生动物，

and some have bears and bobcats.

有些城市有熊和山猫。

But sometimes there are even more impressive things.

但是有时候还有 更令人印象深刻的事情。

For example, Los Angeles has mountain lions,

例如，洛杉矶 有美洲狮，

and Mumbai has leopards.

孟买有豹子。

And there's still one jaguar kicking around Tucson.

而且还有一只美洲虎 在图森四处奔波。

So there's still these big cats, not just, you know, predators,

因此，仍然有这些大型猫科动物， 你知道的。不只是掠食者，

but big cats that are in other cities.

还有其他城市的大型猫科动物。

And Singapore, unlike some of those cities,

而且，新加坡与 其中一些城市不同，

is just incredibly, incredibly dense in terms of human population.

新加坡的人口密 度令人难以置信。

And yet we're ripe with wildlife.

然而，我们周围充满了野生动物。

So I think it's a real question.

所以我认为这是一个真正的问题。

Can we make cities that are wildlife refuges?

我们可以建造成为野生动物保护区的城市 吗？

Can we make cities that foster some kind of productive relationship

我们能否建造能够促进野生动物

between wildlife and humans?

与人类之间 某种有效益关系的城市？

Can we make cities where we exist in close proximity,

我们能否将同我们毗邻存在的城市，

side by side?

并排建起来？

I think we can.

我认为我们可以。

The founder of Singapore, famously, or at least as legend has it,

新加坡的创始人很出名， 至少像传说中那样，

saw a large creature moving along and he thought it was a lion,

他看到一个大型生物在移动， 他以为它是一只狮子，

and so he named Singapore after it.

于是他以它命名新加坡。

Singa Pura, Lion City.

Singa Pura，狮城。

And much later, Singapore adopted its mascot of a merlion,

然后很久以后，新加坡采用 了鱼尾狮的吉祥物，

which is supposed to celebrate Singapore's history as a sea city

它本应庆祝 新加坡作为海洋城市的历史

and this legacy of it being a Lion City.

以及它作为狮城的遗产。

Obviously, there are no lions in Singapore outside of the zoo,

显然，新加坡 的动物园外没有狮子，

and there never were.

也从未有过。

But we do have a ferocious mammalian predator

但是我们确实有一种凶猛的 哺乳动物捕食者

that hunts in groups,

会成群结队地狩猎，

that fights giant lizards.

于巨蜥作战。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

That protects and teaches its offspring.

这样可以保护和教导它的后代。

And that’s frequent in the waterways around Singapore.

这种情况在新加坡周围的水道 中很常见。

Isn't that predator sort of half fish and half lion?

难道那个捕食者不是某种 半鱼半狮吗？

Singapore is magic.

新加坡是神奇的。

(Applause)

（掌声）