第1580期:Cool koalas

When you think of a cute, furry wild animal, you often picture a koala. These adorable-looking creatures appear docile and friendly, so it’s no wonder people are concerned about the future of the species after the devastating bushfires that destroyed parts of Australia earlier this year. Luckily, many survived, which gives us a chance to continue to learn more about these marsupials.

当你想到一只可爱、毛茸茸的野生动物时，你经常会想到一只考拉。这些长相可爱的生物看起来温顺友好，因此在今年早些时候摧毁澳大利亚部分地区的毁灭性丛林大火之后，人们担心该物种的未来也就不足为奇了。幸运的是，许多人幸存下来，这让我们有机会继续了解更多关于这些有袋动物的信息。

Australia’s native and unique wildlife such as kangaroos, platypus and koalas, are under constant threat from human activity and natural disasters. It’s thought at least a billion animals lost their lives as a result of this year’s bushfires. Recently, drones and thermal imaging technology have been used to track their movements to help them keep safe. Protecting these unique species is important because, as The Australian Koala Foundation estimates, there are now possibly as few as 43,000 koalas in the wild.

澳大利亚本土和独特的野生动物，如袋鼠、鸭嘴兽和考拉，不断受到人类活动和自然灾害的威胁。据认为，今年的丛林大火导致至少有 10 亿只动物丧生。最近，无人机和热成像技术已被用来跟踪他们的运动，以帮助他们保持安全。保护这些独特的物种很重要，因为正如澳大利亚考拉基金会估计的那样，现在野外可能只有 43,000 只考拉。

So, what is so special about koalas and what makes them so ‘cool’? Maybe we envy their ability to sleep for up to 22 hours day! Or could it be their laid-back appearance due to the fact that they are herbivores and mainly feed on juicy eucalyptus leaves, which take a lot of time and energy to digest.

那么，考拉有什么特别之处，又是什么让它们如此“酷”呢？也许我们羡慕他们一天能睡上 22 小时！或者可能是因为它们是草食动物，主要以多汁的桉树叶为食，需要大量的时间和精力来消化，所以它们看起来悠闲自在。

What is amazing is that because they often live in a dry and hot environment, they drink very little water. So, how do they survive? Well, scientists have discovered that these wild mammals lick running water off the smooth surface of a tree trunk when it is raining. This phenomenon is called "stemflow". Valentina Mella, the lead author of the research and an ethnologist from the University of Sydney, told the BBC: "I think the main message is that behavioural observations in the wild are very important to establish what is normal and what is unusual, and to truly understand what animals need. If we watch them carefully, they will tell us."

令人惊奇的是，由于他们经常生活在干燥炎热的环境中，他们喝的水很少。那么，它们是如何生存的呢？好吧，科学家们发现，这些野生哺乳动物在下雨时会舔掉树干光滑表面的流水。这种现象被称为“茎流”。该研究的主要作者、悉尼大学的民族学家瓦伦蒂娜·梅拉告诉 BBC：“我认为主要信息是，野外的行为观察对于确定什么是正常的和什么是不寻常的，以及真正了解动物需要什么。如果我们仔细观察它们，它们会告诉我们的。”

So, despite the word ‘koala’ meaning 'no drink' or 'no water' in the Aboriginal language, it seems that even these sleepy creatures do need a drink sometimes. And if we’re to encourage them to flourish, we need to conserve their habitat.

因此，尽管“考拉”一词在土著语言中的意思是“不喝水”或“不喝水”，但似乎即使是这些昏昏欲睡的生物有时也需要喝水。如果我们要鼓励它们繁衍生息，我们就需要保护它们的栖息地。

词汇表

creature 动物
species 物种
bushfire 林火
marsupials 有袋（目）动物
kangaroo 袋鼠
platypus 鸭嘴兽
track 追踪
laid-back 悠闲的，懒散的
herbivore 食草动物
eucalyptus leaf 桉树叶
digest 消化
environment 环境
mammal 哺乳动物
trunk 树干
phenomenon 现象
ethnologist 民族学者，人种学家
Aboriginal 澳大利亚土著的
flourish 茁壮成长
conserve 保护
habitat 栖息地