爲保護生態 澳大利亞今年將捕殺百萬只袋鼠

Australia is planning to kill more than a million kangaroos this year to protect endangered grasslands and wildlife.

澳大利亞計劃於今年捕殺超過一百萬只袋鼠，以保護瀕危的草地和野生生態。

Eastern greys are very cute, and a critical part of the ecosystem, but the huge number of kangaroos is destroying the ecosystem, argues Prof David Lindenmayer, a landscape ecology expert from the Australian National University.

澳大利亞國立大學的環境生態學專家大衛·林登邁爾教授表示：“東部灰袋鼠非常可愛，也是生態系統當中的重要組成部分，但是大量的袋鼠正在毀滅生態系統。”

"We used to have a huge number of top predators like the Tasmanian tiger. However, indigenous overhunting took them out, and then settlers culled predators like dingoes."

“我們曾經有大量食物鏈頂端的物種，比如塔斯馬尼亞虎。然而，當地人的過度捕獵令它們滅絕，然後殖民者又清理了像澳洲野犬這樣的天敵。”

"Now the bush is a bountiful food locker with lots of grass and water, and few predators other than the car."

“現在，草木林就是一個存量豐足的糧倉，草和水都非常多，但是天敵卻很少，除了汽車。”

He says the real problem is that different value sets have clashed. "Animal welfare people care and protect some animals, but there are so many marsupials, they inhumanely starve to death," he says.

他表示，真正的問題在於不同的價值觀發生了碰撞：“動物保護人士保護某些動物，但是還有那麼多的有袋類動物，它們卻不人道地被餓死。”

Prof Lindenmayer is concerned people are squeamish about killing them to cut down the numbers, partly because "the kangaroo is on the nation's coat of arms".

林登邁爾教授擔心，人們對於捕殺袋鼠以降低數量的做法過於敏感，一部分原因是“國徽上面就有袋鼠”。

Although official statistics are not yet available, Louise Boronyak, from anti-cull group THINKK at the University of Technology Sydney, says about 1.6 million kangaroos were culled in 2016.

儘管尚未有官方數據公佈，但是悉尼科技大學的反清理組織“THINKK”的成員路易斯·博羅尼亞克表示，在2016年有大約160萬隻袋鼠被捕殺。

The NSW government insists the quotas are fine, with an Office of Environment and Heritage spokesperson saying they are "sustainable in the long term".

新南威爾士州政府堅持認爲，這個數量是合適的，而環境與遺產辦公室的發言人也表示，它“從長遠來說是可持續的”。

Each year the cull provokes controversy, with opponents suggesting there is no evidence that reducing kangaroo numbers helps the environment.

這種清理行動每年都會引發爭議，反對者表示，沒有證據表明減少袋鼠的數量有助於環境保護。

Dead kangaroos aren't wasted. The carcasses are used for dog food and some meat is sold for human consumption, but 95% goes overseas.

死去的袋鼠並不會被浪費掉。它們的屍體會被製作成狗糧，一些肉也會作爲食品出售，不過有95%都會出口至海外。

"It's a shame we don't eat more at home," says Prof Lindenmayer, who is a fan of kangaroo steaks. "It's tender, with a lot of flavour."

本身就很喜歡吃袋鼠肉排的林登邁爾教授對此表示：“我們在本土吃到得很少，這很可惜。這種肉很嫩，還很有香味。”