瀕危動物遠東豹數量小幅增長

While poaching and environmental degradation have had disastrous effects on animal species across Asia, one highly endangered cat has seen a small but important rise in its numbers, researchers say.

儘管偷獵和環境惡化給全亞洲的動物物種帶來了災難性的影響，但研究人員稱，一種高度瀕危的貓科動物的數量出現了幅度雖小卻有重要意義的增加。

The Amur leopard, which was once found across the Korean Peninsula and parts of Russia and China, is now considered the rarest big cat, with just a few dozen existing in the wild. But their numbers in Russia have risen from just 30 in 2007 to nearly double that in the latest count, according to the conservation group WWF.

曾在朝鮮半島各地以及中國和俄羅斯部分地區出現過的遠東豹，現在被認爲是最稀有的大型貓科動物，生活在野外的只有幾十只。但據環保組織世界野生動物基金會(WWF)介紹，在距今最近的統計中，俄羅斯境內的遠東豹數量已從2007年30只的水平上，翻了近一番。

The group said 57 were found in Land of the Leopard National Park in the Russian Far East. The park, which was established in 2012, is in Primorsky Krai on the finger of land west of Vladivostok, where Russia, North Korea and China meet.

該組織稱在俄羅斯遠東地區的豹之鄉國家公園(Land of the Leopard National Park)發現了57只遠東豹。成立於2012年的該公園位於濱海邊疆，地處俄羅斯、朝鮮和中國三國交界處符拉迪沃斯託克以西一處狹長地帶上。

An estimated eight to 12 Amur leopards live in China, the WWF says. Chinese researchers counted 13 Amur leopards between April and June 2013 in the Hunchun Siberian Tiger National Nature Reserve, in the Chinese province of Jilin just across the border from the Russian park. Results of a new survey of the leopards in China will be published in a few months and will show their population has increased, said Wang Tianming, a researcher at Beijing Normal University, without giving specifics.

世界野生動物基金會估計，中國境內還生活着8到12只遠東豹。2013年4月到6月期間，中國的研究人員在與前述俄羅斯國家公園只有一條國境線之隔的吉林省琿春東北虎國家級自然保護區，清點到了13只遠東豹。北京師範大學的研究人員王天明稱，對中國遠東豹的最新調查結果將在幾個月後發佈，屆時將表明它們的數量增加了。但他未給出具體細節。

“The number of leopards in China is extremely hopeful, higher than anything that’s been reported in the media,” Dr. Wang wrote in an email.

“中國境內的遠東豹數量極其樂觀，比媒體任何一次報道的都高，”王天明在一封電子郵件中寫道。

There are many uncertainties preventing a precise count of Amur leopards. The cats often cross the border between Russia and China, meaning that some could be double-counted. Also, some could live in adjoining areas of North Korea, though little is known about their population there.

很多不確定因素都會導致無法精確地清點遠東豹的數量。它們常常穿越中俄邊境，也就是說有些可能數重複了。此外，一些遠東豹可能生活在毗連朝鮮的地區，但人們對那裏的遠東豹數量情況知之甚少。

The leopard’s numbers are still quite small, but environmental groups say the recent population increase is a result of the expanded protection of their habitat. The increase in leopard numbers is paralleled by the Amur or Siberian tiger, a larger cat whose range overlaps that of the Amur leopard. The Siberian tiger numbers have climbed from just 40 in the 1940s to as many as 450 in Russia today. An additional 18 to 22 tigers are estimated to live in China.

遠東豹的數量依然很少，但環保組織稱，最近遠東豹數量增加，是加大了對其棲息地的保護的結果。和遠東豹一樣，東北虎的數量也增加了。東北虎是一種體型更大的貓科動物，其棲息地與遠東豹重合。俄羅斯境內的東北虎數量已從上世紀40年代的40只，增加到了如今的450只。據估計，中國境內還生活着18到22只東北虎。

The Siberian tiger made headlines last year after one released by Russian President Vladimir V. Putin crossed into China, followed later by another tiger released as part of the same Russian conservation program.

去年，在俄羅斯總統弗拉基米爾·V·普京(Vladimir V. Putin)放生的一隻東北虎進入中國境內之後，東北虎一度成爲媒體關注的焦點。後來，同一個俄羅斯環保項目放生的另一隻東北虎也進入了中國。

“The fact that the Putin tiger came over and didn’t get poached, which was what everybody was worried about, showed that the Chinese side is starting to really be managed effectively for large cats,” said Barney Long, head of Asian species conservation at the World Wildlife Fund in the United States, as the WWF is known there. “If you look at what China has done for panda conservation, our hope is that this is the initial sign that China is doing the same kind of world-class conservation for tigers and leopards across the northeast.”

“普京的老虎能夠進入中國，沒有像外界擔心的那樣被捕殺，這說明中國方面對大型貓科動物進行了有效的保護。”世界自然基金會(World Wildlife Fund)在美國的亞洲物種保護負責人巴尼·朗(Barney Long)說。“看看中國爲保護大熊貓所付出的行動，我們希望這預示着，中國也會爲東北部的老虎和豹提供同樣的世界級的保護。”

Although China has extensive forests in its northeast, years of commercial logging mean they often lack diverse plant species. That limits the food supply for deer and other prey for the big cats, Dr. Long said. But improved management in both China and Russia has improved prospects of rebounds in endangered tiger and leopard populations.

中國的東北擁有大面積的森林，但常年的商業砍伐意味着，那裏的植物種類缺乏多樣性。朗說，這限制了鹿以及大型貓科動物捕食的其他動物的食物來源。不過，中國和俄羅斯管理方面的改善，提高了瀕危老虎和豹數量反彈的可能性。

Still, the overall numbers of big cats in the wild in Northeast Asia are still quite small, leaving them vulnerable to catastrophe.

儘管如此，東北亞地區野生大型貓科動物的整體數量仍然很少，很容易受到災難的影響。

“When you start getting down to small numbers like that, a single disease outbreak could wipe out large amounts, a single really serious poaching incident could take out two or three breeding females and that could knock them back,” Dr. Long said. “This population of Amur leopards, by no stretch of imagination is it safe. But it is recovering and it is showing all the signs. It can be an exponential recovery if it is allowed to get going.”

“當一個物種的數量減少到這種程度時，一場疾病的爆發就可能導致動物大量死去，一次嚴重的偷獵行爲就可能導致兩三隻能夠繁衍下一代的雌性動物死亡，使種羣的數量進一步退回以前的水平，”朗說。“遠東豹的數量，絕對不是毫無風險。但它正在恢復，顯示出各種增長的跡象。如果得以持續下去的話，可能會出現幾何級數的增長。”