濒危动物远东豹数量小幅增长

While poaching and environmental degradation have had disastrous effects on animal species across Asia, one highly endangered cat has seen a small but important rise in its numbers, researchers say.

尽管偷猎和环境恶化给全亚洲的动物物种带来了灾难性的影响，但研究人员称，一种高度濒危的猫科动物的数量出现了幅度虽小却有重要意义的增加。

The Amur leopard, which was once found across the Korean Peninsula and parts of Russia and China, is now considered the rarest big cat, with just a few dozen existing in the wild. But their numbers in Russia have risen from just 30 in 2007 to nearly double that in the latest count, according to the conservation group WWF.

曾在朝鲜半岛各地以及中国和俄罗斯部分地区出现过的远东豹，现在被认为是最稀有的大型猫科动物，生活在野外的只有几十只。但据环保组织世界野生动物基金会(WWF)介绍，在距今最近的统计中，俄罗斯境内的远东豹数量已从2007年30只的水平上，翻了近一番。

The group said 57 were found in Land of the Leopard National Park in the Russian Far East. The park, which was established in 2012, is in Primorsky Krai on the finger of land west of Vladivostok, where Russia, North Korea and China meet.

该组织称在俄罗斯远东地区的豹之乡国家公园(Land of the Leopard National Park)发现了57只远东豹。成立于2012年的该公园位于滨海边疆，地处俄罗斯、朝鲜和中国三国交界处符拉迪沃斯托克以西一处狭长地带上。

An estimated eight to 12 Amur leopards live in China, the WWF says. Chinese researchers counted 13 Amur leopards between April and June 2013 in the Hunchun Siberian Tiger National Nature Reserve, in the Chinese province of Jilin just across the border from the Russian park. Results of a new survey of the leopards in China will be published in a few months and will show their population has increased, said Wang Tianming, a researcher at Beijing Normal University, without giving specifics.

世界野生动物基金会估计，中国境内还生活着8到12只远东豹。2013年4月到6月期间，中国的研究人员在与前述俄罗斯国家公园只有一条国境线之隔的吉林省珲春东北虎国家级自然保护区，清点到了13只远东豹。北京师范大学的研究人员王天明称，对中国远东豹的最新调查结果将在几个月后发布，届时将表明它们的数量增加了。但他未给出具体细节。

“The number of leopards in China is extremely hopeful, higher than anything that’s been reported in the media,” Dr. Wang wrote in an email.

“中国境内的远东豹数量极其乐观，比媒体任何一次报道的都高，”王天明在一封电子邮件中写道。

There are many uncertainties preventing a precise count of Amur leopards. The cats often cross the border between Russia and China, meaning that some could be double-counted. Also, some could live in adjoining areas of North Korea, though little is known about their population there.

很多不确定因素都会导致无法精确地清点远东豹的数量。它们常常穿越中俄边境，也就是说有些可能数重复了。此外，一些远东豹可能生活在毗连朝鲜的地区，但人们对那里的远东豹数量情况知之甚少。

The leopard’s numbers are still quite small, but environmental groups say the recent population increase is a result of the expanded protection of their habitat. The increase in leopard numbers is paralleled by the Amur or Siberian tiger, a larger cat whose range overlaps that of the Amur leopard. The Siberian tiger numbers have climbed from just 40 in the 1940s to as many as 450 in Russia today. An additional 18 to 22 tigers are estimated to live in China.

远东豹的数量依然很少，但环保组织称，最近远东豹数量增加，是加大了对其栖息地的保护的结果。和远东豹一样，东北虎的数量也增加了。东北虎是一种体型更大的猫科动物，其栖息地与远东豹重合。俄罗斯境内的东北虎数量已从上世纪40年代的40只，增加到了如今的450只。据估计，中国境内还生活着18到22只东北虎。

The Siberian tiger made headlines last year after one released by Russian President Vladimir V. Putin crossed into China, followed later by another tiger released as part of the same Russian conservation program.

去年，在俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·V·普京(Vladimir V. Putin)放生的一只东北虎进入中国境内之后，东北虎一度成为媒体关注的焦点。后来，同一个俄罗斯环保项目放生的另一只东北虎也进入了中国。

“The fact that the Putin tiger came over and didn’t get poached, which was what everybody was worried about, showed that the Chinese side is starting to really be managed effectively for large cats,” said Barney Long, head of Asian species conservation at the World Wildlife Fund in the United States, as the WWF is known there. “If you look at what China has done for panda conservation, our hope is that this is the initial sign that China is doing the same kind of world-class conservation for tigers and leopards across the northeast.”

“普京的老虎能够进入中国，没有像外界担心的那样被捕杀，这说明中国方面对大型猫科动物进行了有效的保护。”世界自然基金会(World Wildlife Fund)在美国的亚洲物种保护负责人巴尼·朗(Barney Long)说。“看看中国为保护大熊猫所付出的行动，我们希望这预示着，中国也会为东北部的老虎和豹提供同样的世界级的保护。”

Although China has extensive forests in its northeast, years of commercial logging mean they often lack diverse plant species. That limits the food supply for deer and other prey for the big cats, Dr. Long said. But improved management in both China and Russia has improved prospects of rebounds in endangered tiger and leopard populations.

中国的东北拥有大面积的森林，但常年的商业砍伐意味着，那里的植物种类缺乏多样性。朗说，这限制了鹿以及大型猫科动物捕食的其他动物的食物来源。不过，中国和俄罗斯管理方面的改善，提高了濒危老虎和豹数量反弹的可能性。

Still, the overall numbers of big cats in the wild in Northeast Asia are still quite small, leaving them vulnerable to catastrophe.

尽管如此，东北亚地区野生大型猫科动物的整体数量仍然很少，很容易受到灾难的影响。

“When you start getting down to small numbers like that, a single disease outbreak could wipe out large amounts, a single really serious poaching incident could take out two or three breeding females and that could knock them back,” Dr. Long said. “This population of Amur leopards, by no stretch of imagination is it safe. But it is recovering and it is showing all the signs. It can be an exponential recovery if it is allowed to get going.”

“当一个物种的数量减少到这种程度时，一场疾病的爆发就可能导致动物大量死去，一次严重的偷猎行为就可能导致两三只能够繁衍下一代的雌性动物死亡，使种群的数量进一步退回以前的水平，”朗说。“远东豹的数量，绝对不是毫无风险。但它正在恢复，显示出各种增长的迹象。如果得以持续下去的话，可能会出现几何级数的增长。”