中英對照讀新聞》Beavers Re-emerge in Scotland, Drawing Ire of Farmers 河狸重現蘇格蘭 惹毛農夫
蘇格蘭農夫不爽河狸妨礙務農,保育人士則不爽農夫可合法撲殺河狸。圖為2012年美國懷俄明州大蒂頓國家公園的河狸。(美聯社)
◎張沛元
Four centuries after they were hunted to extinction, mainly for their fur, beavers are back in Scotland, and so is their age-old battle with humans.
在河狸主要因為其毛皮而遭獵捕至絕跡的4個世紀後,牠們重返蘇格蘭,與人類之間的古老戰鬥也隨之再起。
Gnawing and felling trees, building dams that flood fields or wreck drainage systems and burrowing into river banks — sometimes causing them to collapse — beavers have incurred the wrath of a farming community, which won the right to request permits allowing them to kill the animals legally.
會啃咬與砍伐樹木、築壩導致農田被淹沒或破壞排水系統,以及挖洞深入河床──有時導致河床坍塌──的河狸,已經惹毛一個農業社區,他們已取得申請許可的權利,可以合法殺死河狸。
But the sanctioned killing of an otherwise protected species has enraged conservationists, prompting a legal challenge and igniting a polarizing debate about farming, biodiversity and the future of Scotland’s countryside.
但授權撲殺這種在其他情況下該被保護的物種,已惹火保育人士,引發一場法律挑戰與一場有關務農、生物多樣性與蘇格蘭農村未來的兩極化辯論。
新聞辭典
ire:名詞,憤怒。raise/arouse/draw ire of someone或raise/arouse/draw somebody’s ire,讓某人生氣;不爽。例句:The new employment contract will draw ire of prospective job applicants.(新的聘僱契約會讓潛在求職者很生氣。)
incur:動詞,招致;惹起。
sanction:動詞/名詞,批准;認可;制裁。例句:The United States imposed sanctions on Friday on seven Chinese officials over Beijing’s crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong.(美國週五就北京當局鎮壓香港民主而制裁7名中國官員。)