Scarce acorns, silent guns and rural depopulation are bringing Japan's bears out of the woods.
原本栖居于深山老林中的日本黑熊目前正在逐步“走出森林”,而具体原因主要是:黑熊缺少足够多的可做为食物来源的橡树果实,猎人们“刀枪入库,马放南山”以及该国农村人口日益减少等。
The number of Japanese black bears caught feasting in fields of sweet corn, apples and other crops has jumped this year, with the animals increasingly undisturbed by hunters, whose ranks are dwindling as the population ages.
日本黑熊在甜玉米地、苹果地及种植其它种类农作物的土地中“大吃大喝”的情景如今已经变得越来越频繁,由于该国人口老龄化趋势的进一步加剧,日本猎人的数量也在日渐减少,从而使得黑熊能比以往更少地受到来自猎枪的威胁。
"There are plenty of bears out there who've never even heard a gunshot, so if they do see people, they think it's OK not to run away," said Hidetake Hayashi of the Shinshu Black Bear Research Group, which monitors bears in Nagano prefecture.
负责监控长野地区黑熊生存状况的一位科学家说:“现在有相当一部分黑熊甚至从未听到过枪响,所以在与人类不期而遇的时候,它们会认为十分安全,根本没必要转身逃跑。”这位科学家还说:“村庄的面积日渐萎缩,所以现在黑熊们也许会认为它们进村的举动是理所应当的。”
Black bears can grow to about 1.5 metres (5 ft) in height and weigh 100 kg (220 lbs) or more.
Docile when left alone, they can be dangerous if caught unawares, and recent newscasts have reported attacks on humans.
日本黑熊在成年后的身高一般为大约1.5米,体重可达到100公斤甚至更多。黑熊在独处时通常显得性情温顺,而在与人类意外遭遇时,则会变得异常危险,最近频繁传出其对人类发起攻击的消息。
The number of hunters in Japan has fallen from almost half a million in the late 1970s to about 150,000 in 2005, according to Dainihon Ryoyukai, the Japan hunters' association, so people might appear less intimidating to their ursine neighbours.
根据日本猎人联合会的估计,该国的猎人数量已经由上个世纪70年代末期时的接近50万人锐减到了2005年时的大约15万人。日本一位猎捕协会的成员说,由于猎人数量的锐减,这些狗熊的生存威胁已经减缓了很多了。
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