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

譯者: Chun Ju Wang 審譯者: Shelley Tsang 曾雯海

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［TED 研究會員］

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［塑造你的未來］

(King cobra growl)

（眼鏡王蛇嘶吼聲）

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

這悅耳的嘶吼聲 來自世上最長的毒蛇

the king cobra.

眼鏡王蛇

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

蛇類中唯有牠會築巢孵蛋

Apt to their scientific name, Ophiophagus hannah,

牠的學名 Ophiophagus hannah

meaning a snake-eater, they eat other snakes,

代表「嗜蛇者」 而牠們的確蛇如其名

including their own kind.

連自己的同類也不放過

Growing up to five meters,

眼鏡王蛇身長可達五公尺

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

其體內的毒液量 只需一口就能令十人致命

or even an elephant.

甚或是一頭大象

King cobras might be intimidating to most people,

對多數人來說 眼鏡王蛇或許相當嚇人

but I was always fascinated by them.

但我一直為牠們所著迷

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

過去二十年來 我都在研究這傳奇的物種

Fifteen years ago,

十五年前

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

我被眼鏡王蛇咬了一口 那時我試圖將牠救離一間房子

which otherwise would have been killed.

否則牠將命喪黃泉

There is no antivenom for Indian king cobra,

當時並沒有印度眼鏡王蛇的血清

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

所以我很肯定 自己30分鐘後就會身亡

The bite was in my hand.

傷口在我的手上

The pain was moving up my arm towards the heart.

疼痛沿著手臂朝心臟蔓延

The pain was so excruciating

這種劇痛實在太過強烈

that I actually begged the team to just let me die

讓我直接乞求團隊放手

rather than stay in agony.

不要讓我繼續煎熬

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

當時我想起自己屯了幾瓶 泰國的抗蛇毒血清

meant for Thailand king cobra,

以防碰上泰國眼鏡王蛇

which I decided to experiment with on myself.

我決定拿自己做實驗

But the Thai antivenom failed,

但泰式抗蛇毒血清失敗了

and we had to stop the treatment.

我們只好中止治療

But here I am, a ghost?

那你現在看著的是鬼嗎？

No, the king was kind.

不是的，王很仁慈。

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

牠注射到我手上的毒液量很低

which wasn't enough to kill me.

並不足以要我的命

My mother hoped

我母親希望

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

這瀕死經驗能終止我對蛇的癡迷

But no.

但事與願違

For those three painful days at the hospital,

住院那三天痛苦的日子

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

我都在想現存的科學是否正確 如果眼鏡王蛇是單一物種

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

那為何泰國的 抗蛇毒血清沒有生效？

It became apparent that we were missing something.

我們一定錯過了什麼

King cobra was first described scientifically in 1836,

眼鏡王蛇於1836年 首次出現在科學文獻中

after which many speculated there could be different species,

此後有許多聲音 推斷牠並非單一物種

but no one had ever established it.

但從來沒人能確立此事

This became my research topic.

於是這成為了我的研究主題

For seven years after the bite,

被咬後的七年裡

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

我走遍南亞和東南亞的 眼鏡王蛇棲息地

And this is what I found.

我的發現如下

King cobras, despite being the most curious, majestic snakes

眼鏡王蛇雖然是最稀奇古怪 又雄偉壯麗的蛇類

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

卻被地球上大多數人 討厭、恐懼、厭惡

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

一出現在人類的視線中 就被視為能殺害的食材

for traditional medicinal purpose and for pet trade.

可盜獵和交易的 皮料、傳統藥材或寵物

And of course, their habitats are under severe threat,

牠們的棲息地無疑受到嚴重威脅

like many other species.

與其他物種的經歷無異

But we also found an answer

但我們同時找到了一個答案

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

能解開「複合種」 這歷時185年的疑問

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

我的研究顯示 眼鏡王蛇其實是四種迥異物種

not one, as everyone thought.

而不是普遍認為的單一種

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

這就是為何泰國的抗毒蛇血清 當初沒有發揮作用

So what does this finding mean?

這項發現代表什麼？

I found king cobras differed from each other

我發現眼鏡王蛇 彼此之間其實有差異

by one to four percent genetic makeup.

體現在1–4%的基因結構上

So what does this discovery mean for the king cobra?

那這個發現對眼鏡王蛇 又有什麼意義呢？

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

這樣吧，試像有海嘯 或疾病襲擊一座島嶼

inhabited by a particular species of king cobra.

這座島上住著某種 特殊的眼鏡王蛇

We could lose that whole species.

我們可能會就此失去整個物種

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

也就是一個棲息地的毀壞 能導致整個物種

we have yet to understand.

在我們還未了解前 就消失殆盡

Resolving species confusion is highly important

釐清物種混淆非常重要

for the conservation planning, biological control,

這有助於保育規劃、生物控制

treatment of diseases and snakebite.

疾病治療和蛇咬傷處理

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

根據國際自然保育聯盟的

of Threatened Species,

瀕危物種紅色名錄

king cobras are not given much attention.

眼鏡王蛇尚未得到廣泛關注

My discovery calls for an urgent reassessment of each species status

我的研究結果呼籲 大家盡快重新審視

每個物種的現狀和保育工作

and conservation efforts.

As a direct conservation measure,

作為直接的保育手段

we at Kalinga Foundation rescue king cobras from distressed situations.

我們在卡林加基金會的作法是 拯救眼鏡王蛇於水深火熱之中

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

至今已救出約375隻眼鏡王蛇

monitored about 50 plus king cobra nests

監控超過50個眼鏡王蛇巢穴

and helped release over 500 hatchlings

並協助釋放 超過500隻剛孵化的幼蛇

back into their natural habitat.

回到他們的自然棲息地

We partner with communities

我們與社群合作

and invest in creating awareness among local people,

花時間建立當地民眾的意識

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

尤其著重在教育孩童 他們會勸父母以營救取代殺戮

We encourage students to participate in our research

我們鼓勵學生參與我們的研究

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

並致力於蛇類救援人員 和林務人員的能力建構訓練

King cobras are potential flagship species among snakes.

眼鏡王蛇可能是 蛇類中最具代表性的物種

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

這項宣布對這些物種、 資深科學家和森林棲息地

to my senior scientists and the forest they inhabit.

都會是一重大勝利

What is interesting is these are the same tropical forests

有趣的是 我探訪的這批

南亞和東南亞的熱帶雨林

of South and Southeast Asia,

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

蘊含了世上36個 生物多樣性主要地區中的7個

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

同時貢獻了68%的全球碳匯

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

換句話說 我和我的團隊竭盡全力

to say what we now know are four species,

好讓大家了解我們現在所知的 眼鏡王蛇其實是四個物種

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

歡迎加入我們 一同保育美麗的眼鏡王蛇

Thank you.

謝謝大家