野生的、受疱疹感染的猴子在佛罗里达肆虐

野生的、受疱疹感染的猴子在佛罗里达肆虐

Feral primates capable of spreading deadly herpes are plaguing Floridians and the state’s wildlife, experts complain. And the rhesus macaques’ ranks are growing.

专家们抱怨说，能够传播致命疱疹的野生灵长类动物，正在困扰着佛罗里达州人和该州的野生动物。恒河猴的队伍正在壮大。

“I personally am concerned,” Steve Johnson, associate professor of wildlife ecology at the University of Florida, tells the Guardian.

“我个人很担心，”佛罗里达大学野生动物生态学副教授史蒂夫·约翰逊告诉《卫报》。

The rhesus macaque population in Silver Springs State Park has grown to more than 1,000 statewide, increasingly terrified state officials say. They’re wreaking havoc on the environment, gorging themselves on quail eggs and 50 species of plants.

银泉州立公园的猕猴数量已经增长到超过1000只，州政府官员说，这让他们越来越害怕。它们对环境造成了严重破坏，以鹌鹑蛋和50种植物为食。

And most menacingly, about 30 percent of those caught harbored herpes-B virus, and some actively carried the disease in their saliva and other bodily fluids, meaning it could easily be transmitted via a bite.

最具威胁性的是，约30%的感染者携带有疱疹病毒，有些人还通过唾液和其他体液传播，这意味着这种病毒很容易通过叮咬传播。

The virus can be deadly for humans. The threat became a real one in November, when a monkey infected a Japanese scientist with herpes-B, putting the lab worker in critical condition.

这种病毒对人类是致命的。去年11月，这种威胁变成了现实。当时，一只猴子感染了一名日本科学家的herpes-B，令这名实验室工作人员处于危急状态。

And they can swim — fast. Kayaker Rod Guynn captured the moment rhesus macaques dove into the Silver River this October, putting on display their strong swimming skills, and offering a warning to other park-goers of how close the animals can get.

它们能游得很快。今年10月，皮划艇运动员罗德·古恩(Rod Guynn)捕捉到了恒河猴跳入银河的瞬间，展示了它们高超的游泳技巧，并向其他公园游客发出警告，告诉他们这些动物可以游多近。

The saga of these monkeys’ trail of terror began nearly 100 years ago. The primates are not native to the sunshine state’s Silver Springs State Park, but were introduced to the area by a wily tour guide, named Colonel Tooey, in the 1930s. Inspired by the film “Tarzan,” and looking to increase his tour’s allure, Tooey released six rhesus macaques onto an area island, where they have thrived and multiplied across Florida ever since. While initially a thrill for riders of the captain’s glass-bottom boat expeditions, the animals quickly became a threat.

这些猴子的恐怖之旅始于近100年前。这些灵长类动物并非原产于阳光之州的银泉州立公园，而是在20世纪30年代由一位名叫图伊上校(Colonel Tooey)的老谋深略的导游介绍到该地区的。受电影《人猿泰山》的启发，图伊为了增加这次旅行的吸引力，他把六只恒河猴放生到一个小岛上，从此它们就在那里繁衍生养，遍布佛罗里达州。起初，这些动物让船长的玻璃底船探险的乘客们兴奋不已，但很快就变成了威胁。

The monkeys are on the state’s “do not feed,” list, but Johnson says more must be done.

这些猴子被列在该州的“禁止喂食”名单上，但约翰逊表示，必须采取更多措施。

“There’s a low risk, but very high consequence should something happen,” Johnson says. “Fortunately nothing has happened yet, but I wouldn’t want to have that looming over me if I was the state.”

“风险很低，但如果发生什么事，后果会非常严重，”约翰逊说。“幸运的是，目前还没有发生任何事情，但如果我是这个州的人，我不想让这种事情笼罩着我。”

With the primates’ population set to double by 2022, wildlife managers in the state are continuing their efforts to remove the terrors, but haven’t offered up many details on just how they’ll rid the state of the growing problem.

随着灵长类动物的数量到2022年将翻一番，该州的野生动物管理人员仍在继续努力消除这些恐惧，但还没有提供如何消除该州日益严重的问题的许多细节。

“If I was the manager, I would want to try to have them removed,” says Johnson, “But it’s not an easy decision, and it won’t be an easy task.” The situation, he acknowledges, is complicated.

约翰逊说:“如果我是经理，我会想把他们撤下来，但这不是一个容易的决定，也不会是一个容易的任务。”他承认，情况很复杂。

“They’re not supposed to be there,” Johnson warns. “They were brought there by people. They’re like feral hogs, or feral cats.”

“他们不应该在那里，”约翰逊警告说。“他们是被人带到那里的。它们就像野猪或野猫。”