人类毁灭自然，也就是在毁灭自己 Humans have a habit of destroying things

Every summer, visitors to Yellowstone National Park in the United States rush to the famous geysers, the boiling mudpots and spectacular waterfalls. Everyone hopes to encounter some large, dangerous animals up close — bears, elk, moose and bison.

每年夏天，到美国黄石国家公园（Yellowstone National Park）的游客都会涌向著名的间歇泉、沸腾的泥盆和壮观的瀑布。每个人都期待近距离接触一些危险的大型动物，如熊、麋鹿、驼鹿和北美野牛等。

In September, my wife and I joined them. And we were not disappointed. The wildlife in its wild natural habitat is unforgettable.

9月，我和妻子也慕名前往，我们的确不虚此行。野生自然栖息地的动物令人难忘。

But it's the bison (most people call them buffalo) that always get me to thinking more deeply about human irresponsibility.

但正是北美野牛（通常也称野牛），总是让我更深刻地反思人类失去的责任感。

In Yellowstone, one will encounter many buffalo, many of them grazing near the roadside. On one occasion, I stopped the car near a  group of four or five of these great beasts, and they approached, unconcerned, literally arm's length from us and even leaning against the car. I was worried one might get upset and ram us and that we would become newspaper headlines. 

游客在黄石公园里会遇到许多野牛，其中许多在路边吃草。有一次，我把车停在四五只野牛附近，这些庞然大物毫不经意地靠近我们，与我们几乎仅有一臂之遥，有的甚至还倚靠在车上。我还担心会有野牛突然发怒，并冲撞我们，那我们就会成为报纸头条了。

If they could talk, these animals would have a sobering tale to tell about their race — a tale of genocide and near-annihilation.

假如野牛会张口说话，它们就会诉说关于种族发人深省的经历，诉说种族灭绝和濒临灭绝的往事。

At the beginning of the 19th century, before the mass migration of humans across the North American continent, the Great Plains were the domain of the buffalo — an estimated 60 million of them. They were at the center of Native American culture, literally life on the hoof. Indigenous people followed the massive migrating herds, which were usually quiet but could erupt in thundering stampedes that shook the earth. The buffalo could be heard (and their dust clouds seen) across vast distances on the prairie.

19世纪初，人类大规模迁移到北美大陆之前，美国大平原（the Great Plains）还是野牛的领地，估计有6000万头生活在这里。它们处于美洲土著文化的中心，自由自在地生存。土著居民随着庞大的野牛群迁徙，迁徙过程通常很平静，但牛群也可能爆发雷鸣般的狂奔，声势仿佛地动山摇。广袤的草原上，很远就能听闻野牛群疾驰的轰鸣声，遥望滚滚扬尘。

The Europeans were relentless. They came west with their wagons and guns and plows and domesticated livestock. The buffalo herds were in the way, as were the Native American tribes. And both of the latter gave way. It was a violent time in my country.

欧洲人冷酷而无情。他们驾着马车、扛着枪、带着犁、驱赶着家畜，向美国西部进发。野牛群和美洲土著部落，成为他们的阻碍。二者最终还是在欧洲人面前节节败退。在我的国家美国，那是一个暴力横行的时代。

When a market was found for buffalo hides, and later for their skulls, ground up for fertilizer, they didn't stand a chance. Commercial operations went after them with machine-like precision. People shot them for sport from the windows of railway cars on lines extending ever westward. The US government cynically invited people to kill buffalo for the purpose of eliminating the Native Americans' primary food supply and forcing them to capitulate the the white man.

野牛皮市场被合法化，之后是野牛头骨被研磨成肥料，野牛已无立锥之地。机械化的商业运作随之而来。人们在西行铁路线的火车上，从车窗向外射击野牛，作为消遣。美国政府可耻地邀请人们射杀野牛，目的是为了消除美洲原住民的主要食物供应，迫使他们向白人投降。

By around 1900, the population of 60 million buffalo had been decimated, reduced to around 300 animals. The species was perilously close to extinction.

到1900年左右，野牛数量已从6000万头锐减至300头左右。这个物种濒临灭绝的危险。

Count me among the grateful for the efforts of conservationists, whose tools included the national park system. 

感谢自然资源保护者的努力，建立国家公园系统是他们保护自然资源的方式之一。

China, to its credit, is now adding to its national parks, not so much for tourism as to protect species such as the endangered Tibetan antelope — which poachers prize for its "soft gold" underfur. Luxurious shawlssell for between $4,000 and $40,000. The practice is illegal, but it still goes on.

值得赞扬的是，中国现在正在加强国家公园建设，与其说是为了旅游，不如说是为了保护物种，比如濒临灭绝的藏羚羊。盗猎者将藏羚羊的毛皮称为“软黄金”。奢华的藏羚羊披肩的售价在4000美元到40000美元之间。盗猎藏羚羊的行为触犯法律，但仍然存在。

It's no isolated case. The world needs to rise up in unison to stop the annihilation of elephants in Africa and India, and the great whales in Earth's oceans, and even a little Australian mouse.

这已不是孤立的案例。全世界需要一致行动起来，阻止对非洲和印度大象、海洋鲸鱼甚至澳大利亚袋鼠的滥杀。

It's an outrage that Japan continues to allow whaling in the name of tradition. When old traditions lead to the needless slaughter of Earth's treasured species, it's time to find new traditions. Iceland, too, recently announced that it will allow more than 2,000 whales to be killed in next five years.

日本以传统习俗为借口继续捕杀鲸鱼，很令人愤慨。当旧的传统导致对地球上珍稀物种进行毫无必要的屠杀时，就该是建立新传统的时候了。冰岛最近也宣布，将在未来五年内捕杀2000头以上鲸鱼。

Will no one pause to consider how much poorer the world will be without these animals? Does greed, masked by terms like "tradition" really have the final say? Humans, it seems, are fools. Our big brains have yielded awful forms of pollution, including filling our oceans — our own ultimate lifeline — with trash.

难道没有一个人冷静思考，假如没有这些动物，世界将变得多么乏味？以“传统”为幌子来掩盖自己的贪婪，就真的能为所欲为吗？人类似乎愚不可及，我们的大脑造就了可怕的污染，包括把垃圾倾倒到海洋中，而海洋是我们最终的生命线。

The American bison had a close brush with extinction. But so long as the world is run by careless maniacs that walk upright, I wouldn't bet much on its future. Or mankind's.

美洲野牛险遭灭绝。只要这个世界是由直立行走的贪婪且狂热之徒统治，就不能对未来掉以轻心。人类也是如此。