全球頻現動物集體死亡 惹來遐想
8000 turtle doves dead as global phenomenon shows no sign of sands of gizzard shad fish have been washed up on Chicago's harbours while more than 100 dead birds have been found clustered on a California highway.
全球動物死亡事件繼續升級：意大利再現8000只斑鳩集體死亡。成千上萬條死亡的鯡魚被海浪衝到了芝加哥港灣，而在加利福利亞洲的高速公路旁，有人發現了超過100只鳥類“橫屍遍野”的慘象。
The two instances appear to be a continuation of the strange mass animal deaths that have struck in the past fortnight - in America and elsewhere.
而以上的這兩個例子只是近半個月來全球各地紛紛出現了令人不解的大規模動物死亡事件中的一部分而已。
However Lake Michigan Program biologist Dan Makauskas said that gizzard shad are not a very tough variety of fish and are more sensitive to drops in oxygen levels than most fish.
而來自密歇根湖的生物學家，丹-馬考斯卡斯表示，造成這一令人費解的現象的原因可能是，某些魚類對於水中氧含量的降低非常敏感，因不適應而造成了“缺氧死亡”。
Mr Makauskas suggested that the young fish may not have built up enough reserves to withstand the early onslaught of extreme cold that hit the da geese and mallard ducks have eaten many of the dead fish.
馬考斯卡斯表示，幼魚對於環境的適應力還較弱，無法抵禦極端寒冷對該地區氣候所造成的影響。 而這些死魚中的大部分都被加拿大黑雁與野鴨吃掉了。
Meanwhile, California wildlife officials are attempting to work out what caused the death of more than 100 birds found clustered together just off Highway 101.
與此同時，加州野生動物部分的官員們正竭力尋找出造成超過100只鳥類集體在101公路旁墜亡的真正原因。
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports that California Highway Patrol officers found the dead birds near the roadway on Saturday and called in the state Department of Fish and Game to investigate. The officers who found the birds described them as small with brown and black feathers. They were intact and had not been shot.
據媒體的報道，加州公路巡邏人員在上週六發現了公路旁的鳥類的屍體，並立即報告了加州的相關部門，要求進行調查。公路巡邏人員描述死掉的鳥的特徵：個頭小，羽毛呈棕黑相間，並且頭完好無損，沒有被射殺的跡象。
The reports come as other, larger bird deaths have been reported in Arkansas, Louisiana and other states.
另外，從阿肯色州的路易斯安那州傳來了更大規模的不明原因的鳥類死亡消息。
First there came bird and fish deaths on December 31 in Arkansas, followed by reports of several other mass animal deaths around the world.
12月31日，首先在阿肯色州發現了鳥和魚類的死亡事件，隨之而來的全球各地不約而同的出現了類似的情況。
And yesterday, 700 turtle doves were found dead in Faenza, in northern Italy.
就在昨天，又在意大利北部的法恩扎城發生了700只左右死掉的斑鳩。
Local agency GeaPress reported: 'They are in heaps in the flowerbeds, crushed by machinery in the streets, horribly hung from trees like Christmas balls.'
據當地媒體的導報，“這些死掉的斑鳩的屍體落在樹枝上，有的散落在街邊，情形令人不寒而慄。”
While conspiracy theorists have been busy trying to find explanations for the mass deaths - from government testing to alien interference - the answer to the dead doves in Italy appears simple: they ate too much.
在一些人忙着找出斑鳩死亡緣由的同時，官方卻給出了簡單而令人捧腹的解釋：這些鳥兒吃太多了，活活被撐死了。
