Wildlife moves in

As human beings retreat into their homes as the novel coronavirus pandemic expands across the world, nature seems to be taking back urban areas.
新冠肺炎疫情全球蔓延，人们都待在家中的同时，大自然似乎开始收回城市失地了。

According to The Straits Times, many wild animals have recently skipped onto empty streets in many cities.
据《海峡时报》报道，近期，许多野生动物都在不少城市空旷的街道上现身。

In Spain, a wild boar climbed down the hills and wandered around Barcelona. Sika deer nosed their way around the deserted metro stations of Nara in Japan. A stag scampered in the capital of the northern state of Uttarakhand in India.
在西班牙，一头野猪跑下山来，在巴塞罗那市区闲逛。梅花鹿群在无人的日本奈良地铁站周围四下窥探。一头雄鹿在印度北部的北阿坎德邦首府奔跑。

“It is certainly great news for species,” Marcelo Giagnoni, the head of Chile’s agricultural and livestock service, told AFP. “This is the habitat they once had and that we’ve taken away from them.”
“对于生物们来说，这的确是个好消息，” 智利农业和畜牧局局长马塞洛·贾戈诺尼在接受法新社采访时如此表示。“这是它们曾经的栖息地，却被我们夺走了。”

Hundreds of years ago, people lived in harmony with wildlife. They shared natural resources from sunlight to water and from forests to land. But as human beings evolved and formed their own civilizations, they jostled with animals for more space and resources. Gradually, human beings came to lose connection with nature. More skyscrapers have been built to meet the needs of the flock of people in the cities, which drove away many wild animals from their habitats. Now in the cities and suburbs, unmowed lawns will be a source of “bounty for bees, bumble bees and butterflies”, said Romain Julliard, head of research at the French Natural History Museum.
数百年前，人们与野生动物和谐共存。大家共享阳光、水源、森林、土地等自然资源。但随着人类不断进步，形成了各自的文明，人类便与动物们争夺起了更多的空间和资源。渐渐地，人类与大自然失去了联系。为了满足城市居民的需求，一座座摩天大楼拔地而起，却将许多野生动物赶出了它们的栖息地。在如今的城市和郊区中，未曾修整的草地成了“给蜜蜂、黄蜂以及蝴蝶的馈赠“，法国国家自然历史博物馆研究主管罗曼·朱利亚如此表示。

However, the recent lockdown of cities amid the pandemic gives a chance of “freeing a space for other animals” and reflecting on our relationship with nature, according to AFP.
但据法新社报道，近期疫情期间的封城给予了“其他动物自由的空间”，也让人们反思起了与自然的关系。

Stuck indoors, with their worlds reduced to a few square meters, urban people have suddenly become avid birdwatchers.
待在家中，只有几平方米活动空间的城市人突然之间都成了狂热的观鸟爱好者。

British ornithologist David Lindo, who is known as the “urban birder”, has been posting and livestreaming birds he spots from the roof of the building in Spain where he has been quarantined.
英国鸟类学家大卫·林多被称为“城市观鸟者”，正在西班牙隔离的他最近一直从楼上屋顶记录或直播自己发现的鸟类。

“The sky is a great arena, anything can fly past and, at the very least, it will give you peace. My message is simple: keep looking up,” he told CTV News.
“天空是个允许世间万物飞越的大舞台，至少，它能让你平静下来。我想要传递的信息很简单：向上看，”他在接受加拿大电视台采访时如此表示。

Just as AFP noted, right now “the most important phenomenon perhaps is our relationship with nature is changing – with people locked up in their homes realizing how much they miss nature”.
正如法新社报道所指出的那样，如今“最重要的现象或许是我们与大自然的关系正在发生改变 —— 人们关在家中才意识到他们有多想念大自然”。

Though the lockdown may be temporary, it’s time for us to reflect upon our relationship with the environment. As AFP put it, “people should always have a need of nature”. By missing nature, humans may come to respect – and live in harmony with – nature once again.
尽管封城措施或许是暂时的，但我们是时候该反思与环境的关系了。正如法新社所言，“人们向来都离不开大自然”。想念大自然的人们或许能够再一次尊重自然，并与之和谐共存。

以上文章内容选自《21世纪学生英文报高中版》，详情请见《21世纪学生英文报高中版》高三715期