現(xiàn)實世界中，瀕臨滅絕的藍色斯皮克斯金剛鸚鵡

Mario Cohn-Haft remembers the sinking feeling he had when he realised the parrot he had come to see would probably not appear before him, ever again.

馬里奧·科恩-哈夫特(Mario Cohn-Haft)還記得，當他意識到他帶隊來看的這種鸚鵡很可能不會出現(xiàn)時，他內(nèi)心是無比的失落。

He had taken a bird-watching tour to the area where the very last wild Spix’s macaw, a beautiful blue parrot native to the forests of Brazil, was known to show itself. But that tour was the first he had led that couldn’t spot it.

他帶了一個賞鳥團來到最后一只野生斯皮克斯金剛鸚鵡(Spix's macaw)出沒的林地，希望看到這只鸚鵡，但這是他帶隊觀鳥以來第一次鸚鵡未能出現(xiàn)。斯皮克斯金剛鸚鵡是一種原產(chǎn)于巴西森林的美麗藍色鸚鵡。

“I was one of the first people to experience it being extinct in the wild,” says Cohn-Haft, an ornithologist at the National Institute of Amazonian Research.

科恩-哈夫特，這位亞馬遜國家研究院(National Institute of Amazonian Research)的鳥類學(xué)家說：“我是第一批親歷野生鳥類如何滅絕的人之一。”

That was 20 years ago. No verified wild specimens have been seen since. The Spix’s macaw was first described in 1638 and is named after the German naturalist, Johann Baptist Ritter von Spix, who collected a specimen in 1819. It’s small for a macaw, but has distinctive blue feathers, often fading to pale grey around the head. South America has many exotically coloured parrots, but the sophisticated blue plumage sets the Spix’s apart from many other species on the continent.

那是20年前的事了。自那以后，再也沒有人可證明他看見過野生的斯皮克斯金剛鸚鵡。斯皮克斯金剛鸚鵡于1638年首次被發(fā)現(xiàn)，并以1819年采集到這種鸚鵡標本的德國著名博物學(xué)家斯皮克斯(Johann Baptist Ritter von Spix)的名字命名。斯皮克斯金剛鸚鵡體型很小，但卻有著獨特的藍色羽毛，頭部周圍的羽毛通常會褪成淺灰色。南美洲有許多色彩奇特的鸚鵡，但特異的藍色羽毛使斯皮克斯鸚鵡有別于南美大陸上的許多其他同類物種。

For years, Spix’s macaws were restricted to a small area of habitat in north-eastern Brazil. Deforestation in the 20th Century contributed to their decline.

多年來，斯皮克斯金剛鸚鵡僅生存于巴西東北部的一小片棲息地。20世紀的森林砍伐導(dǎo)致了它們的滅絕。

野生的斯皮克斯金剛鸚鵡已經(jīng)絕種

The species was immortalised in the 2011 animated film Rio – the characters Blu and Jewel being the last wild pair of breeding Spix’s macaws in the world. Fans of the film are often dejected to learn that the species is now considered extinct in the wild.

2011年的動畫電影《里約大冒險》(Rio)使斯皮克斯金剛鸚鵡成為不朽的形象。在這部動畫中，布魯(Blu)和珠兒(Jewel)是世界上最后一對野生的斯皮克斯金剛鸚鵡。這部電影的粉絲們得知斯皮克斯金剛鸚鵡這個物種在野外已經(jīng)絕種時，往往都很難過。

But today there is hope. Spix’s macaws still exist. A small number of breeding pairs are currently living in captivity. Conservationists are in the middle of a project to rear healthy birds and prepare them for release into the wild. The Association for the Conservation of Threatened Parrots (ACTP) is leading current efforts. A memorandum was signed between the ACTP and Brazil’s government in June this year to ensure the next phase of the project.

但是今天有了希望。其實斯皮克斯金剛鸚鵡這個物種仍然存在，因為有少量雌雄成對地圈養(yǎng)在人類的籠子中。動物保育人士正在進行一項培育健康鳥類，然后將它們放歸自然的計劃。保護瀕臨絕種威脅的鸚鵡協(xié)會(ACTP)是目前這項工作的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者。2019年6月，ACTP與巴西政府簽署了一份備忘錄，以實行該計劃的下一階段工作。

Cromwell Purchase, Scientific and Zoological Director at the ACTP, explains that the group plans to send 50 Spix’s macaws to rehabilitation facilities in Brazil, which are currently under construction. If all goes well, the birds will be shipped from Germany in the spring of 2020. The conservation team will first practice a technique for releasing the birds on a small flock of Illiger’s macaws – a green parrot with blue-tinged wings. Then, in 2021, the Spix’s will be released with a small group of the Illiger’s, which will hopefully help them to integrate into the forest of Caatinga, in north-eastern Brazil.

ACTP的科學(xué)和動物學(xué)主任克倫威爾·珀切斯(Cromwell Purchase)解釋說，該組織計劃將50只斯皮克斯金剛鸚鵡送往巴西正在興建的鳥類康復(fù)中心。如果一切順利，這批鸚鵡將于2020年春天從德國運到巴西。保育小組將首先放生一小群伊利杰金剛鸚鵡(一種翅膀帶點淡藍的綠色鸚鵡)，以試驗放生技術(shù)。然后在2021年，再將斯皮克斯鸚鵡與一小群伊利杰金鸚鵡一起放歸大自然，希望幫助斯皮克斯鸚鵡能融入巴西東北部的卡廷加(Caatinga)森林，讓野生的斯皮克斯金剛鸚鵡起死回生。

“Over the first few weeks the aviary will be open in the morning and closed at dark, birds will be allowed to return at will to get food,” explains Purchase.

珀切斯解釋說：“在最初的幾個星期里，鳥舍將在早上開放，晚上關(guān)閉，讓鳥兒隨意返回鳥舍獲取食物。”

The real test will be whether the birds take to their native surroundings and, crucially, whether they successfully breed and rear chicks in the wild. The macaws will face natural challenges as well as the threat of poaching.

真正的考驗將是這些鸚鵡能否適應(yīng)其原生的自然環(huán)境，關(guān)鍵之處在于它們能否成功地在野外繁殖和養(yǎng)育后代。斯皮克斯金剛鸚鵡將面臨自然的挑戰(zhàn)以及偷獵的威脅。

But Brazil wants the plan to work. There has been an initiative to reintroduce Spix’s macaws to the wild since 2012, says Camile Lugarini at the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation. She and her colleagues are working closely with the ACTP.

但巴西希望計劃能夠成功。契科?門德斯生物多樣化保育研究所(Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation.)的卡米爾?盧噶日尼(Camile Lugarini)說，早在2012年已有將斯皮克斯鸚鵡放歸大自然的倡議。卡米爾及其同事與ACTP密切合作推動這個計劃。

“There is no way to bring Spix´s back without the cooperation of the international holders,” she says. South America has dozens of parrot species. Many are thriving in the wild – but blue parrots are rare. One of the most stunning parrots in the world is the Hyacinth macaw, which is in fact the world’s largest by length. It can grow up to 1 metre from head to tail with a wingspan of 1.5 metres.

她說：“如果飼養(yǎng)斯皮克斯的國際人士不能合作，斯皮克斯是不可能回到自然原鄉(xiāng)。”南美洲有幾十種鸚鵡。有許多種至今仍在自然中生存繁殖，但藍鸚鵡卻非常罕見。世界上最令人驚艷的鸚鵡之一是風(fēng)信子金剛鸚鵡(Hyacinth macaw)，如按長度這也是世界上最大的鸚鵡，從頭部到翼尾長達1公尺，翼展可達1.5公尺。

It is a brilliant, rich shade of blue, with a flash of yellow around its eyes and at the base of its large beak. Its wild population fell to just 2,500-3,000 by the end of the 1990s, according to the WWF. Neiva Guedes is one of the key people responsible for helping the Hyacinth macaw to recover. She set up the Hyacinth Macaw Project in 1990 and helped to design nest boxes that made it easier for the birds to breed. Today, there are thought to be up to 5,000 of the birds in the wild.

風(fēng)信子金剛鸚鵡全身是一片有光澤的亮麗藍色，而眼圈和鳥喙底端為閃亮的黃色。根據(jù)世界自然基金會(WWF)的數(shù)據(jù)，到20世紀90年代末，在自然中野生的風(fēng)信子金剛鸚鵡的數(shù)量已下降到了2500到3000只。內(nèi)瓦·古德斯(Neiva Guedes)是幫助風(fēng)信子金剛鸚鵡在自然界恢復(fù)的關(guān)鍵人物之一。她在1990年發(fā)起風(fēng)信子金剛鸚鵡計劃，幫助設(shè)計了讓風(fēng)信子金剛鸚鵡便于筑巢繁殖的鳥巢箱。今天，據(jù)估計有多達5000只風(fēng)信子金剛鸚鵡生活在自然環(huán)境中。

Locals who once killed Hyacinths in order to collect their feathers have been taught to protect them. Some even make money from sheltering them on their ranches as tourist attractions, says Don Brightsmith, a conservationist and expert in parrots at Texas A&M University.

當?shù)厝嗽?jīng)為了采集風(fēng)信子金剛鸚鵡的美麗羽毛而殺害這種鸚鵡，現(xiàn)在他們受教育要給予保護。保育人士、美國德州農(nóng)工大學(xué)(Texas A&M University)的鸚鵡專家唐·布萊特史密斯(Don Brightsmith)說，現(xiàn)在有些當?shù)刈∶裆踔涟扬L(fēng)信子金剛養(yǎng)在自己的牧場吸引遊客以賺錢。

“We’ve turned the corner now to where species like that one have really come back,” he says. Knowledge of how to do reintroduce parrots successfully in South America has only really come about in the past 30 years, he adds: “We know how to reintroduce parrots, there are now multiple publications and case studies that show, yeah, we can get birds out into the wild and have them survive.”

他說：“我們已扭轉(zhuǎn)了逆勢，這類鸚鵡數(shù)量真的回升了。”他補充說，南美洲人僅在過去30年才開始掌握如何成功讓鸚鵡回歸自然繁殖生存的知識，“我們現(xiàn)在知道如何放生鸚鵡,現(xiàn)在有多個出版物和案例研究有說明。是的，我們可以把鳥兒放生到野外,讓它們在自然中生存下去。”

It means that there is a better chance today that the Spix’s macaw reintroduction project will go well. Brightsmith notes one crucial point – the birds must be shown to rear chicks independently and successfully. Otherwise any reintroduced population will quickly collapse.

這意味著將斯皮克斯鸚鵡放歸自然的成功可能性比較大。布萊特史密斯指出了一個關(guān)鍵問題，必須證明放生的鸚鵡能夠獨立且成功地哺育其幼鳥。否則，任何放生鸚鵡讓其回歸自然的計劃都會很快失敗。

Happily, Purchase says this is something he and his colleagues are working on: “It is a long process, we have a few pairs that can now parent-rear successfully. But we still need to hand rear a few.” Those macaws are some of the last survivors of their kind. But there’s a glimmer of hope that they will return to their true home in Brazil. Should they flourish, the blue flash of a Spix’s wings might one day be seen again by locals and, perhaps, fascinated groups of bird-watchers who have travelled to stroll beneath the canopy – and glimpse this brilliant blue macaw in the forest where it belongs.

值得高興的是，珀切斯說這正是他及其同事們正在做的事情，“這是一個漫長的過程，我們有幾對這樣的鸚鵡，它們現(xiàn)在可以成功地撫養(yǎng)幼鳥了。但我們還是需要人手多養(yǎng)幾對雌雄鸚鵡。”珀切斯所說的就是幾乎絕種的斯皮克斯金剛鸚鵡中的最后幸存者。但是這些鸚鵡有一線希望回歸它們在巴西的原生自然家園。如果它們能在野外繁殖后代生生不息，當?shù)刈∶窨赡苡幸惶鞎俅卧谏种锌吹剿蛊た怂菇饎傷W鵡展開藍色翅膀飛掠而過，這當然也會吸引喜歡倘佯于森林樹蔭中尋找鳥蹤的觀鳥愛好者成群結(jié)隊而來。到時，這些鳥迷有機會在藍色金剛鸚鵡的原生森林中一瞥其亮麗的藍光。