VOA慢速英語：加拉帕戈斯群島發(fā)現(xiàn)一種超過110年未見的陸龜

Tortoise Not Seen for Over 110 Years Found on Galapagos Island

加拉帕戈斯群島發(fā)現(xiàn)一種超過110年未見的陸龜

A kind of tortoise not seen in more than 110 years has been found in the Galapagos Islands.

加拉帕戈斯群島發(fā)現(xiàn)了一種110多年未見的烏龜。

A female from a species known as the Fernandina Giant Tortoise was discovered last weekend on the island of Fernandina.

這只歸屬于費(fèi)爾南迪納巨型陸龜物種的雌性烏龜于上周在費(fèi)爾南迪納島被發(fā)現(xiàn)。

The Galapagos is a group of 20 islands in the eastern Pacific Ocean, about 1,000 kilometers off the coast of Ecuador.

加拉帕戈斯群島由東太平洋上的20個(gè)島嶼組成，距離厄瓜多爾海岸約1000公里。

The islands belong to Ecuador and the tortoise discovery was announced by the country's ministry of environment. It said that the creature was identified by researchers from the Galapagos National Park and the Galapagos Conservancy, a group based in the United States.

這些島嶼屬于厄瓜多爾，這種烏龜?shù)陌l(fā)現(xiàn)也是該國環(huán)境部宣布的。該部門表示，這種生物是由加拉帕戈斯國家公園以及總部位于美國的加拉帕戈斯保護(hù)協(xié)會的研究人員所發(fā)現(xiàn)的。

Wildlife experts had thought the Fernandina Giant Tortoise no longer existed.

野生動物專家曾經(jīng)認(rèn)為費(fèi)爾南迪納巨型陸龜已經(jīng)滅絕。

The researchers said they believe the adult female tortoise is more than 100 years old. The animal was taken to a breeding center for giant tortoises on the Galapagos island of Santa Cruz.

研究人員表示，他們認(rèn)為這只成年雌龜年齡超過100歲。該動物被帶到了加拉帕戈斯群島圣克魯斯的巨型龜類繁殖中心。

The International Union for Conservation of Nature says the only other living member of the species was found in 1906. Since then, researchers have found some evidence of Fernandina Giant Tortoise activity. There was an unconfirmed sighting in 2009. But the latest find was the first new confirmed sighting of the species.

國際自然保護(hù)聯(lián)盟表示，該物種唯一的另一個(gè)存活成員是在1906年被發(fā)現(xiàn)的。自那時(shí)起，研究人員看到過一些費(fèi)爾南迪納巨型陸龜?shù)幕顒盂E象，2009年有一次未經(jīng)證實(shí)的目擊事件，但是最近這次發(fā)現(xiàn)是首次新確認(rèn)看到該物種。

Investigators believe there may be more members of the species on Fernandina Island because of animal droppings and tracks they found.

調(diào)查人員認(rèn)為，由于他們發(fā)現(xiàn)的動物糞便和足跡，在費(fèi)爾南迪納島上可能有更多該物種成員。

Danny Rueda is the director of Galapagos National Park. He says the discovery provides new hope for possible successful breeding. "This encourages us to strengthen our search plans to find other turtles, which will allow us to start a breeding program in captivity to recover this species," he said in a statement.

丹尼·盧埃達(dá)(Danny Rueda)是加拉帕戈斯國家公園的負(fù)責(zé)人。他說，這一發(fā)現(xiàn)為可能的成功育種提供了新的希望。他在一份聲明中表示：“這鼓勵(lì)我們加大尋找其它龜類的搜尋計(jì)劃，它讓我們能夠開啟育種計(jì)劃以恢復(fù)該物種。”

Fernandina is the third-largest island in the Galapagos. A volcano there is one of the most active in the world. The International Union for Conservation of Nature said it feared the species was likely lost to repeated volcanic lava flows "that nearly cover the island."

費(fèi)爾南迪納島是加拉帕戈斯群島的第三大島。這里的一座火山是全球最活躍的火山之一。國際自然保護(hù)聯(lián)盟曾表示，他們擔(dān)心該物種可能因?yàn)榉磸?fù)發(fā)生的火山熔巖而消失，這些火山熔巖幾乎流經(jīng)了整個(gè)島嶼。

Ecuador's Environment Minister, Marcelo Mata Guerrero, said the government fully supports additional research and development efforts aimed at saving the species.

厄瓜多爾環(huán)境部長Marcelo Mata Guerrero表示，政府全力支持旨在拯救該物種的其它研究和開發(fā)工作。

I'm Bryan Lynn.

布萊恩·林恩報(bào)道。