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正文翻譯
December 18, 2020 3.26pm GMT
Simon Evans Principal Lecturer in Ecotourism, Anglia Ruskin University
（作者為英國安格利亞魯斯金大學生態旅遊專業首席講師西蒙·埃文斯）
A nature reserve in India could soon be the only location in the world to host wild populations of four major big cat species – tiger, lion, leopard and cheetah. Kuno-Palpur, in central state of Madhya Pradesh, may not be one of India’s best-known sanctuaries but it is certainly becoming one of its most controversial. In early 2020, the country’s supreme court agreed that wildlife authorities there could reintroduce the cheetah to India, 70 years after its local extinction.
在印度，有一個自然保護區可能很快就會成為全球唯一一個擁有地位重要的四種大型貓科動物野生種群（虎、獅、花豹和獵豹）的地方。位於中央邦中部的庫諾-帕爾普爾可能不是印度最有名的動物保護區之一，但毫無疑問，它正在成為最富爭議的保護區之一。2020年初的時候，該國最高法院批准了當地的野生動物管理部門可以將獵豹重新引進到印度，此時，距離獵豹在當地滅絕已經有70年了。
Map of Africa and Asia showing cheetahs former and current range.
The world’s 10,000 or so cheetahs live in a tiny portion of their former range.
（圖解：獵豹古今分布範圍對比。如今，全世界1萬頭上下的獵豹，生活的地區只佔到昔日分布範圍的極小一部分）
Kuno-Palpur was identified as the preferred location for India’s relocation programme as it has large grasslands, ideally suited to the cheetah’s need to build up speed without worrying about trees or other obstacles. These grasslands were formed, in large part, through the removal of villages and rewilding of agricultural land to make way for the relocation of the Asiatic lion.
庫諾-巴爾普爾被敲定為印度重新安置計劃的首選地點，因為這裡有廣袤的草原，這就非常理想了，很適合獵豹的需要，因為獵豹在提速時就無須擔心樹木或其他障礙物的阻擋了。產生這些草原的主因是遷走了村莊以及退耕還草，而這是在給重新安置亞洲獅騰地方。
Asiatic lions are smaller than their African cousins, have smaller and darker manes, and all live in one forest.
（圖解：亞洲獅的體型比它們的非洲表親小，鬃毛更少、顏色也更深，如今的它們全都生活在一片森林裡（吉爾保護區））
In 2016 India’s supreme court, citing unacceptable delays, ordered the lion relocation process to be completed within six months. At the same time, the court dismissed a parallel application for the reintroduction of cheetahs, reasoning that it would be paradoxical to elevate the claims of an exotic subspecies (African cheetahs) over those of an endemic (Asiatic lions).
2016年的時候，印度最高法院指控其延誤不可接受，令其在6個月內完成獅子的再安置過程。與此同時，法院沒有受理一項要求重新引進獵豹的平行申請，給出的理由是：讓一個針對外來亞種（非洲獵豹）的訴求凌駕於針對一個特有物種（亞洲獅）的訴求是荒謬的。
（圖解：圖為印度的花豹）
A cheetah chases after a small antelope.
Springbok hunting in Namibia. Elana Erasmus / shutterstock
（圖解：納米比亞，一隻獵豹正在追趕一隻小羚羊）
There is also credible evidence that tigers are already dispersing to Kuno-Palpur as animals from a reserve in neighbouring Rajasthan seek to escape territorial over-crowding. This suggests there is a functioning wildlife corridor between the two reserves, a stated priority for Indian conservation.
還有可靠的證據表明，老虎已經散布到了庫諾-巴爾普爾地區，因為在與之相鄰的拉賈斯坦邦，有一個保護區內的動物正在設法逃離過於擁擠的地盤。這就表明在兩個保護區之間存在一條能起到作用的野生動物走廊，而這恰是印度動保工作既定的優先事項。
（圖解：拉賈斯坦邦的孟加拉虎）
This is not a simple issue to resolve. As the supreme court is increasingly called upon to adjudicate between the various factions, so these conundrums are likely to intensify in the future. There is no science available currently to suggest that cheetahs, lions, tigers and leopards can coexist comfortably in the same habitat. It has never occurred anywhere else before, so there is no real-life experience to draw upon.
這不是一個容易解決的問題。由於要求最高法院在各派系之間居中裁決的情況越來越多，因此在未來，這些難題很可能會加劇。目前找不到任何科學證據能證明獵豹、獅、虎和花豹可以在同一個棲息地內和諧共存。這種情況，以前在其他任何地方都沒有發生過，所以沒有現實中的經驗可供借鑑。
In my research for a forthcoming book on tigers I found India’s wildlife is becoming increasingly commercialised and much of what we accept as rational conservation can just as easily be viewed through an economic lens – one that reflects the benefits of tourism. On the surface, the cheetah scheme feels more like a vanity project than a conservation imperative; no doubt a boon for wildlife tourism but maybe also presenting a threat of intra-species and human-wildlife conflict.
在我為即將問世的一本有關老虎的書進行的研究中，我發現印度的野生動物被商品化的程度正變得越來越高，而為我們所接受的理性保護中的很多方面，同樣可以很容易地放在經濟角度中去看待，這個角度體現的是旅遊業的利益。表面上看，這個獵豹計劃更像是一個滿足虛榮心的項目，並不是施行保護的必由之路；這對野生動物旅遊來說，是一大利好，但也許，也會帶來物種內部和人與野生動物之間的衝突。
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