100多年來(lái)第一只灰狼可能已經(jīng)回到了法國(guó)北部

100多年來(lái)第一只灰狼可能已經(jīng)回到了法國(guó)北部

After an absence of more than 100 years, the iconic gray wolf may have returned to northern France.

在消失了100多年后，標(biāo)志性的灰狼可能又回到了法國(guó)北部。

According to the French Biodiversity Office, an animal closely resembling one was captured in images taken by an automatic surveillance camera. The very wolf-like creature was traveling alone in the middle of the night on April 8 near the northeast village of Londinières.

根據(jù)法國(guó)生物多樣性辦公室的說(shuō)法，在自動(dòng)監(jiān)控?cái)z像頭拍攝的圖像中，有一種動(dòng)物與這種動(dòng)物非常相似。4月8日深夜，這只非常像狼的生物在法國(guó)東北部村莊隆迪尼埃爾附近獨(dú)自旅行。

The French Biodiversity Office, a government agency that monitors the country's wolf population, claims to have "authenticated this observation as very probably being a grey wolf."

法國(guó)生物多樣性辦公室是一個(gè)政府機(jī)構(gòu)，負(fù)責(zé)監(jiān)測(cè)該國(guó)的狼的數(shù)量。該機(jī)構(gòu)聲稱(chēng)，已“證實(shí)這一觀察結(jié)果極有可能是一只灰狼”。

Gray wolves, while numerous in parts of Canada and the U.S., have only recently returned to continental Europe. (Photo: Paul A Carpenter/Shutterstock)

"The photo was analyzed by several people experienced in the identification of the wolf and who concluded that there was a high probability," a spokesperson from the agency tells Newsweek. "However, it cannot 100 percent be said it is a wolf. Only DNA analysis on biological material would remove doubts."

該機(jī)構(gòu)的一位發(fā)言人告訴《新聞周刊》說(shuō):“這張照片是由幾位有辨識(shí)狼的經(jīng)驗(yàn)的人分析過(guò)的，他們得出的結(jié)論是有很高的可能性。然而，不能百分之百地說(shuō)它是一只灰狼。只有對(duì)生物材料進(jìn)行DNA分析才能消除疑慮。”

If it is indeed a European gray wolf, it would mark a promising — if modest — return to a land it was once driven from. Gray wolves, once considered the bane of farmers for their livestock-ravaging ways, were over-hunted to the point they disappeared from all of France. But over the last 30 years, they have taken tentative steps toward a return, starting with a few of their numbers crossing over the Alps from Italy.

如果它真的是一只歐洲灰狼，那將標(biāo)志著它有希望——如果是適度的話(huà)——回到它曾經(jīng)被趕走的那片土地?；依?，曾經(jīng)被認(rèn)為是農(nóng)民的禍根，因?yàn)樗麄兤茐纳蟮姆绞?，被過(guò)度捕獵，以至于他們從整個(gè)法國(guó)消失了。但在過(guò)去的30年里，他們已經(jīng)采取了試探性的措施，開(kāi)始從意大利越過(guò)阿爾卑斯山。

"The species is known for its great dispersal capacity, especially during the territory search phase," a representative from the French Biodiversity Office explained to The Local in January. "Thus, since its reappearance in the Southern Alps in 1992, the wolf has crossed territories as far away as the Pyrenees, Lorraine, Burgundy and the Somme."

今年1月，法國(guó)生物多樣性辦公室的一名代表向當(dāng)?shù)孛襟w解釋說(shuō):“該物種以其強(qiáng)大的分散能力而聞名，尤其是在領(lǐng)土搜索階段。因此，自1992年在南阿爾卑斯山重新出現(xiàn)以來(lái)，狼已經(jīng)越過(guò)了比利牛斯山脈、洛林、勃艮第和索姆河等遙遠(yuǎn)的地區(qū)。”

Today, there are about 530 wolves in France, mostly confined to the regions near the Alps and the Italian border. But their numbers are likely to grow thanks to their status as "protected" under the EU's Bern Convention.

如今，法國(guó)約有530只狼，大多生活在阿爾卑斯山和意大利邊境附近。但由于它們?cè)跉W盟伯爾尼公約下的“受保護(hù)”地位，它們的數(shù)量可能還會(huì)增長(zhǎng)。

And it appears at least one gray wolf has now made it as far north as Normandy, the region where the latest image was taken.

至少有一只灰狼已經(jīng)到達(dá)了北部的諾曼底，也就是拍攝這張照片的地方。

How humans and carnivores are sharing space

人類(lèi)和食肉動(dòng)物如何共享空間

Karakachans guard sheep in Bulgaria. The dogs, which are used to protect grazing animals, are known for their bravery in fighting back against both wolves and bears. (Photo: Semperviva [CC BY-SA 3.0]/Wikimedia)

Farmers may not be as thrilled as conservationists about the wolf's return to the north, but times have changed since their only resort was to hunt them down.

農(nóng)民們可能不會(huì)像自然資源保護(hù)論者那樣對(duì)狼的回歸感到興奮，但是時(shí)代已經(jīng)變了，因?yàn)樗麄兾ㄒ坏倪x擇就是獵殺它們。

In the Dinaric Alps to the south, where hundreds of wolves, along with thousands of bears and other wild carnivores roam, farmers have adopted less lethal ways to protect their livestock.

在南部的迪納里克阿爾卑斯山脈，有幾百只狼，還有幾千只熊和其他野生食肉動(dòng)物在那里游蕩，農(nóng)民們采用了不那么致命的方法來(lái)保護(hù)他們的牲畜。

Those measures include guard dogs, surveillance equipment and, of course, one of the most reliable assurances of good neighborly relations: fences.

這些措施包括警犬、監(jiān)控設(shè)備，當(dāng)然還有最可靠的睦鄰關(guān)系保證之一:圍欄。

Only these fences, according to Euronews, are nearly six-feet tall and pack a jolt.

據(jù)歐洲新聞網(wǎng)站Euronews報(bào)道，這些護(hù)欄有近六英尺高，能夠產(chǎn)生震動(dòng)。

"It's very important that the fence always has electricity, even if the animals are not in the pen," one farmer tells the news agency. "That way, large carnivores will associate touching the electric fence with pain, and no longer approach, no longer attack the livestock."

一位農(nóng)民告訴新聞機(jī)構(gòu):“籬笆總是通電是非常重要的，即使動(dòng)物不在圍欄里。這樣，大型食肉動(dòng)物就會(huì)把觸摸電圍欄和疼痛聯(lián)系起來(lái)，不再靠近，也不再攻擊牲畜。”