英倫翻譯社/ Trsmaster

2024/04/01 05:30
◎陳成良

Mice accidentally introduced to a remote island near Antarctica 200 years ago are breeding out of control because of climate change, and they are eating seabirds and causing major harm in a special nature reserve with “unique biodiversity.”

200年前意外引入南極洲附近一個偏遠島嶼的老鼠，由於氣候變遷化而失控繁殖，牠們正在吃海鳥，並在具有「獨特生物多樣性」的特殊自然保護區造成重大傷害。

Now conservationists are planning a mass extermination using helicopters and hundreds of tons of rodent poison, which needs to be dropped over every part of Marion Island’s 115 square miles (297 square kilometers) to ensure success.

現在，環保主義者正計畫使用直升機和數百噸囓齒動物毒藥，進行大規模滅絕，這些毒藥需要投放到馬里恩島115平方英里（297平方公里）的每個地方，以確保成功。

If even one pregnant mouse survives, their prolific breeding ability means it may have all been for nothing.

即使有一隻懷孕的老鼠倖存下來，牠們多產的繁殖能力也意味著這一切可能都是徒勞。

The Mouse-Free Marion project — pest control on a grand scale — is seen as critical for the ecology of the uninhabited South African territory and the wider Southern Ocean. It would be the largest eradication of its kind if it succeeds.

「無鼠馬里昂」計畫是大規模害蟲（外來物種）防治，被認為對無人居住的南非領土和更廣闊的南大洋生態至關重要。如果成功，將是同類中規模最大的根除行動。

新聞辭典
extermination：名詞，消滅，根除。例句：The government implemented an extermination program to control the spread of the invasive species.（政府實施滅絕計畫，以控制外來物種蔓延。)

eradication：名詞，根除，指完全消除或排除某些不良因素，通常指害蟲、疾病等。例句：The global eradication of polio has been a major public health success story.（全球消除小兒麻痺症的成功，是一個重大的公共衛生成就故事。 ）

英倫翻譯社轉自 https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1638574