为什么西方的野马正在消失

为什么西方的野马正在消失

Mustangs have been a part of the landscape of the United States for centuries. Ever since the first horses escaped from Spanish conquistadors, feral horses have returned to their wild roots, roaming in small family bands lead by stallions, mixing with various breeds of other escapees — including the Appaloosas and paints of Native Americans, ranchers' quarter horses and cow ponies, thoroughbreds and draft horses that ditched their farms.

几个世纪以来，野马一直是美国风景的一部分。自从第一批马从西班牙征服者手中逃出来后，野马又回到了它们的野地，四处游荡。在以马为首的小家族乐队中，与其他逃亡者的不同品种混为一谈，包括美洲土著人的阿普洛索斯和油漆、牧场主的四分之一的马和母马、纯种马。还有赶马离开他们的农场。

The issue of protecting wild mustangs is complex and has many competing interests. (Photo: Jaymi Heimbuch)

The mustang has become an exceptionally hardy breed of horse, adapting easily to rough and arid conditions in the west, with isolated bands still showing their centuries-old ancestry though particular conformation and markings. And importantly, the mustang is a breed we equate with freedom, an untamed spirit and the history of our country.

野马已经成为一种非常耐寒的马，很容易适应西部的艰苦和干旱的环境，尽管独特的构造和标记，独立的马群仍然显示着他们几个世纪前的祖先。重要的是，野马是一种我们认为是自由的品种，一种野性的精神和我们国家的历史。

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is tasked to uphold the 1971 legislation written to protect these free-roaming horses, the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act. Unfortunately, the BLM's strategies are far from effective and are considered by many to be inhumane. The issue is complex and has many conflicting interests, from those who want to see wild horses stay free, to those who object to the strategies used for limiting herd growth, to ranchers who graze their livestock on public land and view the mustangs as competition.

美国土地管理局(BLM)的任务是维护1971年制定的保护这些自由漫游的马的法律，即《野生自由漫游马和驴法案》。不幸的是，BLM的策略远非有效，而且被许多人认为是不人道的。这个问题很复杂，有许多相互冲突的利益，从那些希望看到野马保持自由的人，到那些反对限制牧群增长的人，到在公共土地上放牧的牧场主，以及把野马视为竞争对手的人。

Wild horses protected by the BLM are found primarily in Western states. (Photo: Jaymi Heimbuch)

Most recently, wild horses and the BLM made headlines in December over a new Trump administration proposal that would accelerate the roundup and removal of 130,000 federally protected wild horses and burros from public lands.

去年12月，特朗普政府提出了一项新的提案，将加速对13万头受联邦政府保护的野马和美洲驴进行围捕，并将它们赶出公共土地。

Two national horse protection groups and a bipartisan group of lawmakers spoke out against the decision, which is part of an Interior Department spending bill.

两个国家马保护组织和一个两党议员小组公开反对这一决定，这是内政部开支法案的一部分。

“Congress just unleashed a catastrophic assault on America’s cherished wild horses and burros, turning back the clock 50 years to a time when these iconic animals were almost extinct and Congress acted unanimously to protect them,” Suzanne Roy, executive director of the American Wild Horse Campaign, said in a statement.

美国野马运动的执行理事苏珊娜·罗伊在一份声明中说:“国会刚刚对美国珍爱的野马和美洲驴发动了一场灾难性的袭击，让时间倒退了50年，回到了这些标志性动物濒临灭绝的年代，国会一致采取行动保护它们。”

Roy also spoke out in late July 2017 when a Congressional committee voted to reverse a ban on euthanizing healthy wild horses and burros.

罗伊还在2017年7月下旬发表了讲话，当时一个国会委员会投票推翻了禁止对健康的野马和美洲驴实施安乐死的禁令。

If the amendment had become law, the BLM would have been permitted to kill animals deemed unadoptable that are being kept in holding pens or that are still roaming public lands.

如果修正案成为法律，BLM将被允许杀死那些被认为不能被收养的动物，这些动物被关在围栏里，或者仍然在公共土地上游荡。

After nearly two years of back and forth, the euthanasia option was taken off the table, the Associated Press reports.

据美联社报道，经过近两年的反复，安乐死的选择被取消了。