100多年来第一只灰狼可能已经回到了法国北部

100多年来第一只灰狼可能已经回到了法国北部

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，标志性的灰狼可能又回到了法国北部。

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.

根据法国生物多样性办公室的说法，在自动监控摄像头拍摄的图像中，有一种动物与这种动物非常相似。4月8日深夜，这只非常像狼的生物在法国东北部村庄隆迪尼埃尔附近独自旅行。

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."

法国生物多样性办公室是一个政府机构，负责监测该国的狼的数量。该机构声称，已“证实这一观察结果极有可能是一只灰狼”。

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."

该机构的一位发言人告诉《新闻周刊》说:“这张照片是由几位有辨识狼的经验的人分析过的，他们得出的结论是有很高的可能性。然而，不能百分之百地说它是一只灰狼。只有对生物材料进行DNA分析才能消除疑虑。”

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.

如果它真的是一只欧洲灰狼，那将标志着它有希望——如果是适度的话——回到它曾经被赶走的那片土地。灰狼，曾经被认为是农民的祸根，因为他们破坏牲畜的方式，被过度捕猎，以至于他们从整个法国消失了。但在过去的30年里，他们已经采取了试探性的措施，开始从意大利越过阿尔卑斯山。

"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，法国生物多样性办公室的一名代表向当地媒体解释说:“该物种以其强大的分散能力而闻名，尤其是在领土搜索阶段。因此，自1992年在南阿尔卑斯山重新出现以来，狼已经越过了比利牛斯山脉、洛林、勃艮第和索姆河等遥远的地区。”

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，法国约有530只狼，大多生活在阿尔卑斯山和意大利边境附近。但由于它们在欧盟伯尔尼公约下的“受保护”地位，它们的数量可能还会增长。

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.

至少有一只灰狼已经到达了北部的诺曼底，也就是拍摄这张照片的地方。

How humans and carnivores are sharing space

人类和食肉动物如何共享空间

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.

农民们可能不会像自然资源保护论者那样对狼的回归感到兴奋，但是时代已经变了，因为他们唯一的选择就是猎杀它们。

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.

在南部的迪纳里克阿尔卑斯山脉，有几百只狼，还有几千只熊和其他野生食肉动物在那里游荡，农民们采用了不那么致命的方法来保护他们的牲畜。

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

这些措施包括警犬、监控设备，当然还有最可靠的睦邻关系保证之一:围栏。

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

据欧洲新闻网站Euronews报道，这些护栏有近六英尺高，能够产生震动。

"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."

一位农民告诉新闻机构:“篱笆总是通电是非常重要的，即使动物不在围栏里。这样，大型食肉动物就会把触摸电围栏和疼痛联系起来，不再靠近，也不再攻击牲畜。”