A King Cobra Bite -- and a Scientific Discovery | Gowri Shankar | TED

翻译人员: Xinlin Liu 校对人员: Yip Yan Yeung

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(King cobra growl)

(眼镜王蛇的低声吼叫)

That’s the beautiful growl of the world’s longest venomous snake:

那是世界上体型最长的毒蛇——

眼镜王蛇所发出的美妙吼声。

the king cobra.

They’re the only snakes that build a nest to incubate their eggs.

它们是唯一一种 筑巢孵蛋的蛇类。

Apt to their scientific name, Ophiophagus hannah,

它们与其学名 Ophiophagus hannah

meaning a snake-eater, they eat other snakes,

相吻合，意思是食蛇者， 它们吃其它蛇，

including their own kind.

包括它们的同类。

Growing up to five meters,

眼镜王蛇能长到 5 米长，

they possess enough venom to kill 10 people in a single bite,

它们拥有的毒液足以 把 10 个人一口咬死，

or even an elephant.

甚至是咬死一只大象。 眼镜王蛇可能令大部分人生畏，

King cobras might be intimidating to most people,

but I was always fascinated by them.

但我一直对它们很着迷。

I've been studying this legendary species for the last 20 years.

我在过去的 20 年里 一直在研究这个传奇物种。

Fifteen years ago,

15 年前，

I was bitten by a king cobra while rescuing it from a house,

我在把一条眼镜王蛇 从房子里救出来时被咬了，

which otherwise would have been killed.

如果我不救它，它就会死。

There is no antivenom for Indian king cobra,

对于印度眼镜王蛇没有抗毒血清，

so I was certain I would die in about 30 minutes.

所以我当时很确信 我在差不多 30 分钟内就会死。

The bite was in my hand.

伤口在我的手上。

The pain was moving up my arm towards the heart.

疼痛从我的手臂朝心脏向上移动。

The pain was so excruciating

这种疼痛是如此的难以忍受，

that I actually begged the team to just let me die

我当时甚至求我的队员让我直接死 也不要处于极度的痛苦之中。

rather than stay in agony.

I remembered I had stocked a few vials of antivenom from Thailand,

我记得我备有几瓶 从泰国带来的抗毒血清，

meant for Thailand king cobra,

这个抗毒血清是针对 泰国眼镜王蛇的，

which I decided to experiment with on myself.

我打算在我自己身上做实验。

But the Thai antivenom failed,

但是泰国的抗毒血清失败了，

and we had to stop the treatment.

我们必须停止治疗。

But here I am, a ghost?

但我现在就在这里， 难道我是个鬼魂吗？

No, the king was kind.

不是的，这是因为 那条眼镜王蛇十分善良。

It injected a very small quantity of venom into my hand,

它只向我的手里 注入了很少量的蛇毒，

which wasn't enough to kill me.

不足以杀死我。

My mother hoped

我妈妈希望

that this near-death experience would finally stop my snake obsession.

这一次的濒死经历 最终会让我打消对蛇的痴迷。

But no.

但是并没有。

For those three painful days at the hospital,

在医院度过的那痛苦的三天，

all I wondered was if the king cobra was one species, as science believed,

我一直在想，如果如科学所信， 眼镜王蛇都是同一个物种的话，

then why didn't the Thailand antivenom work on me?

为什么泰国的抗毒血清 在我身上无效？

It became apparent that we were missing something.

很明显，我们忽略了什么。

King cobra was first described scientifically in 1836,

眼镜王蛇在 1836 年第一次被科学记载，

after which many speculated there could be different species,

在此之后，许多猜测表示 它们可能是不同物种，

but no one had ever established it.

但是没人可以证明。

This became my research topic.

这就成为了我的研究课题。

For seven years after the bite,

在被咬了之后的 7 年间，

I traveled across king cobra habitat in South and Southeast Asia.

我去了南亚和东南亚的 眼镜王蛇栖息地。

And this is what I found.

这是我的研究结果。

King cobras, despite being the most curious, majestic snakes

眼镜王蛇，即使是 最神奇、雄伟的蛇，

are disliked, feared and hated by most people on the planet.

也被地球上许多人 讨厌、害怕、厌恶。

They're killed on sight for food, poached for skin,

人们为了获取食物捕杀它们， 为了获取蛇皮偷猎它们，

for traditional medicinal purpose and for pet trade.

它们被用在传统医疗手段中、 被当作宠物交易。

And of course, their habitats are under severe threat,

当然，它们的栖息地 也受到了严重威胁，

like many other species.

就像许多其他生物一样。

But we also found an answer

但我们也找到了一个答案，

to this 185-year-old question of species complex.

这个历经 185 年、 复杂物种问题的答案。

My research has shown that king cobra is actually four distinct species,

我的研究表明，眼镜王蛇 其实是四种不同的物种。

not one, as everyone thought.

而不是我们所认为的一种。

Now that is why the Thailand antivenom did not work on me.

这就是为什么泰国的抗毒血清 在我身上不奏效。

So what does this finding mean?

所以这个发现意味着什么呢？

I found king cobras differed from each other

我发现眼镜王蛇物种间彼此不同，

by one to four percent genetic makeup.

是由于 1% 到 4% 的 基因构成不同。

So what does this discovery mean for the king cobra?

所以这次发现对 眼镜王蛇来说有什么意义呢？

Well, imagine there's a tsunami or an epidemic on an island

好，想象如果在一个岛上 有一场海啸或者流行病，

inhabited by a particular species of king cobra.

这个岛上有一特定物种的 眼镜王蛇栖息。

We could lose that whole species.

我们可能会失去这一整个物种。

In other words, one habitat destruction is the loss of an entire species

这就意味着，一个栖息地的毁灭 会导致一整个物种的灭绝。

we have yet to understand.

而这一整个物种我们都还不了解。

Resolving species confusion is highly important

解决物种混淆问题非常重要，

for the conservation planning, biological control,

对于保护规划、生物控制、

treatment of diseases and snakebite.

和治疗疾病与蛇咬都很重要。

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List

根据《世界自然保护联盟 濒危物种红色名录》，

of Threatened Species,

king cobras are not given much attention.

眼镜王蛇没有获得太多关注。

My discovery calls for an urgent reassessment of each species status

我的研究呼吁对每个物种的状态 进行紧急重新评估，

and conservation efforts.

其保护工作也要进行评估。

As a direct conservation measure,

作为一项直接的保护措施，

we at Kalinga Foundation rescue king cobras from distressed situations.

我们在卡林加基金会 （Kalinga Foundation）

从困境中拯救了眼镜王蛇。

So far, we have rescued close to 375 king cobras,

截止目前，我们已经救出了 近 375 只眼镜王蛇，

monitored about 50 plus king cobra nests

监测了大约 50 多个 眼镜王蛇巢穴

and helped release over 500 hatchlings

并把 500 多条幼蛇

back into their natural habitat.

放回它们的自然栖息地。

We partner with communities

我们与社区合作，

and invest in creating awareness among local people,

致力于提高当地民众的意识，

especially kids, who urge their parents to choose rescue over killing.

尤其是提高孩子们的意识，让他们 敦促父母选择营救而不是杀戮。

We encourage students to participate in our research

我们鼓励学生参加我们的研究，

and conduct capacity-building training for snake rescuers and forest officials.

并对蛇类救援人员和森林官员 进行能力建设培训。

King cobras are potential flagship species among snakes.

眼镜王蛇是蛇类中 潜在的重要物种。

Declaring it as such will be a big win for the species,

宣布这一点将是

对眼镜王蛇、资深科学家 和眼镜王蛇栖息的森林来说，

to my senior scientists and the forest they inhabit.

一次巨大的胜利。

What is interesting is these are the same tropical forests

有趣的是，这些

南亚和东南亚的热带森林

of South and Southeast Asia,

which has seven of the world's 36 biodiversity hotspots.

拥有世界 36 个 生物多样性热点中的 7 个。

And these also contribute 68 percent to the global carbon sink.

这些森林也贡献了 全球碳汇的 68% 。

In other words, my team and I are doing all we can

换句话说，我和我的团队 正在尽我们所能

to say what we now know are four species,

告诉大家我们现在所知的 眼镜王蛇是四个物种，

and I welcome you to join us in conserving the beautiful king cobra.

并且我欢迎你加入我们 来保护美丽的眼镜王蛇。

Thank you.

谢谢。