國家地理:佛羅里達美洲獅的回歸(2)

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Her tracks are thrilling to see -- a reminder that Florida still has wilderness and large cats, some of them resilient enough to live unseen along the fringes of the expanding suburbs.

能看到它的足跡，著實讓人興奮，因為這正告訴我們，佛羅里達仍有荒野與大型貓科動物，其中有些貓科動物非常頑強，能夠在不斷擴張的市郊邊緣過著不為人知的生活。

Most Floridians will never see any signs of these predators, which weigh from 65 to 165 pounds as adults, depending on sex, and can leap more than 10 yards in a single bound. But the panther -- known to the Cherokee as "lord of the forest" -- depends on the millions of acres of swamps, forests, and fields in southwestern and central Florida, many of which are at imminent risk of development.

按性別不同，成年后的佛羅里達獅體重介于65至165鎊，單次跳躍可達10公尺遠，不過，多數(shù)佛羅里達人永遠不會看到這些掠食者的任何蹤跡。這種動物仰賴佛羅里達西南部與中部數(shù)百萬公頃的沼澤、森林與田野為生，然而，這些地區(qū)有許多都面臨了迫在眉睫的開發(fā)風(fēng)險。

The Florida panther, classified as a subspecies of mountain lion, or cougar, once ranged throughout most of the southeastern United States. But the animals were hunted aggressively, and by the 1970s they were only found in Florida, and their numbers had fallen to fewer than 30, making them highly vulnerable to inbreeding. They were within a whisker of going extinct, says Kelly, a slim man often adorned in clothes bearing the insignia of his employer, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

佛羅里達獅是美洲獅的亞種，分布范圍曾經(jīng)遍及美國東南部大部分地區(qū)。然而它們遭到濫捕，到20世紀(jì)70年代，只有在佛羅里達州才可以找到它們的身影，而且數(shù)量降到低于30只，這使得它們非常容易發(fā)生近親繁殖的情形。凱利說，它們當(dāng)時幾乎就要滅絕了。