野生的、受皰疹感染的猴子在佛羅里達肆虐

野生的、受皰疹感染的猴子在佛羅里達肆虐

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

專家們抱怨說，能夠傳播致命皰疹的野生靈長類動物，正在困擾著佛羅里達州人和該州的野生動物。恒河猴的隊伍正在壯大。

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

“我個人很擔心，”佛羅里達大學(xué)野生動物生態(tài)學(xué)副教授史蒂夫·約翰遜告訴《衛(wèi)報》。

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.

銀泉州立公園的獼猴數(shù)量已經(jīng)增長到超過1000只，州政府官員說，這讓他們越來越害怕。它們對環(huán)境造成了嚴重破壞，以鵪鶉蛋和50種植物為食。

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.

最具威脅性的是，約30%的感染者攜帶有皰疹病毒，有些人還通過唾液和其他體液傳播，這意味著這種病毒很容易通過叮咬傳播。

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.

這種病毒對人類是致命的。去年11月，這種威脅變成了現(xiàn)實。當時，一只猴子感染了一名日本科學(xué)家的herpes-B，令這名實驗室工作人員處于危急狀態(tài)。

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.

它們能游得很快。今年10月，皮劃艇運動員羅德·古恩(Rod Guynn)捕捉到了恒河猴跳入銀河的瞬間，展示了它們高超的游泳技巧，并向其他公園游客發(fā)出警告，告訴他們這些動物可以游多近。

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.

這些猴子的恐怖之旅始于近100年前。這些靈長類動物并非原產(chǎn)于陽光之州的銀泉州立公園，而是在20世紀30年代由一位名叫圖伊上校(Colonel Tooey)的老謀深略的導(dǎo)游介紹到該地區(qū)的。受電影《人猿泰山》的啟發(fā)，圖伊為了增加這次旅行的吸引力，他把六只恒河猴放生到一個小島上，從此它們就在那里繁衍生養(yǎng)，遍布佛羅里達州。起初，這些動物讓船長的玻璃底船探險的乘客們興奮不已，但很快就變成了威脅。

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

這些猴子被列在該州的“禁止喂食”名單上，但約翰遜表示，必須采取更多措施。

“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.”

“風(fēng)險很低，但如果發(fā)生什么事，后果會非常嚴重，”約翰遜說。“幸運的是，目前還沒有發(fā)生任何事情，但如果我是這個州的人，我不想讓這種事情籠罩著我。”

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.

隨著靈長類動物的數(shù)量到2022年將翻一番，該州的野生動物管理人員仍在繼續(xù)努力消除這些恐懼，但還沒有提供如何消除該州日益嚴重的問題的許多細節(jié)。

“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.

約翰遜說:“如果我是經(jīng)理，我會想把他們撤下來，但這不是一個容易的決定，也不會是一個容易的任務(wù)。”他承認，情況很復(fù)雜。

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

“他們不應(yīng)該在那里，”約翰遜警告說。“他們是被人帶到那里的。它們就像野豬或野貓。”