在黑龍江逗留的普京之虎返回俄國

Siberian Tiger, Freed to Roam by Putin, Returns From China Sojourn

在黑龍江逗留的普京之虎返回俄國

BEIJING — Kuzya, the peripatetic Siberian tiger who two months ago wandered into China from Russia, prompting an international incident of sorts over concerns he might become the quarry of Chinese poachers, has reportedly returned to his native land, at least for the time being.

北京——據(jù)報道，四處游走的西伯利亞虎庫茲亞(Kuzya)至少已暫時回到自己的祖國。兩個月前，它從俄羅斯進入中國，在一定程度上引發(fā)了擔憂，因為它可能會被中國偷獵者捕獲。

Russian and Chinese conservationists on Wednesday reported that Kuzya, one of three rescued cubs that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia released into the wild last May, had crossed the frozen Amur River that separates the two countries, according to the tracking device he wears.

中俄兩國的環(huán)保人士周三通報稱，庫茲亞身上攜帶的追蹤裝置發(fā)出的信號顯示，它已經(jīng)越過已結(jié)冰的兩國界河黑龍江。今年5月，俄羅斯總統(tǒng)弗拉基米爾·V·普京(Vladimir V. Putin)解救了三只老虎，并將其放歸自然，庫茲亞便是其中之一。

Experts say there are fewer than 450 Siberian tigers left in the taiga of Russia’s far east. Across the border in China, illegal hunting has reduced their numbers to less than 30. Much of the demand comes from the Chinese side, where tiger parts are prized for their perceived medicinal value and a single carcass can fetch $10,000.

專家稱，在俄羅斯遠東的針葉林帶地區(qū)，目前僅剩不到450只西伯利亞虎(中國稱東北虎——譯注)。而在邊界這一邊的中國，非法狩獵導致其數(shù)量下降到了不足30只。對西伯利亞虎的大量需求來自中國。在這里，因為被認為具有藥用價值，老虎制品備受青睞，一具老虎尸體可以賣到1萬美元(約合6.1萬元人民幣)。

Mr. Putin, who has sought to soften his tough-guy image by publicly cavorting with endangered animals, has made tiger conservation one of his trademark issues. It was Mr. Putin, in fact, who pulled the rope that freed Kuzya from his enclosure and unknowingly set him on a transnational journey of several hundred miles.

普京希望通過公開與瀕危動物嬉戲的方式，讓自己的硬漢形象變得溫和。他把保護老虎作為自己的標志性工作之一。實際上，正是普京拉開了將庫茲亞放歸自然的繩索，繼而無意間讓它走上了一段數(shù)百英里的跨國旅程。

The fact that Kuzya managed to survive his Chinese sojourn was seen as something of a triumph, given the ubiquity of snare traps, the large number of human settlements in China’s northeast Heilongjiang Province and what Russian tiger experts feared would be a shortage of natural prey.

考慮到在位于中國東北地區(qū)的黑龍江省，狩獵陷阱無處不在，且人類居住區(qū)數(shù)量龐大，庫茲亞在中國逗留期間得以存活下來，在一定程度上就被認為是一種勝利。此外，俄羅斯的老虎專家也曾擔心，中國缺乏自然獵物。

“I can’t tell you he’s going to stay in Russia but the good news is that during his time in China, he was very well behaved,” Maria Vorontsova, director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare in Russia, said in a phone interview Wednesday.

“我沒法和你說它會留在俄羅斯，但好消息是，在中國逗留期間，它表現(xiàn)得很好，”國際愛護動物基金會(International Fund for Animal Welfare)在俄羅斯的負責人瑪麗亞·沃龍?zhí)厮魍?Maria Vorontsova)周三接受電話采訪時說。

The same cannot be said for Ustin, another rescued Siberian tiger from Russia who, since arriving in China last month, has been feasting on livestock, to the consternation of local farmers. Two weeks ago, wildlife officials in Heilongjiang blamed Ustin for the demise of at least 18 goats, some of which were found with their skulls crushed or riddled with finger-size holes, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.

另一只獲救后從俄羅斯過來的西伯利亞虎烏斯京(Ustin)情況就不同了。自上月來到中國后，它一直大肆捕殺家畜，引起了當?shù)剞r(nóng)民的恐慌。官方通訊社新華社報道，黑龍江省負責野生動物事宜的官員在兩周前稱，烏斯京咬死了至少18只羊，且一些羊頭骨碎裂，頭部滿是手指般粗細的洞。

By contrast, the scientists tracking Kuzya’s movements — and examining his scat — say he largely sustained himself on wild boar.

相比之下，追蹤庫茲亞的行蹤并研究其糞便的科學家稱，它主要以野豬維生。

Whether Kuzya will stay in Russia is anyone’s guess. But Zhang Minghai, vice director of the State Forestry Administration Feline Research Center in Heilongjiang, suggested that Kuzya’s latest border crossing was temporary.

誰都不知道庫茲亞是否會一直留在俄羅斯。但黑龍江國家林業(yè)局貓科動物研究中心副主任張明海表示，庫茲亞越境返回俄羅斯是暫時的。