澳洲山火肆虐 考拉主动“讨水”
编译 / 顾忆青
译自：《国际论坛先驱报》
( International Herald Tribune )
【译者按】连日来，澳大利亚东南部维多利亚州山火肆虐，引起各方关注。今天，国内外各大媒体相继报道和刊载了下面这张照片：往日十分害羞的树袋熊，难得主动地向消防员“求救”，令人动容。这幅温情脉脉的场景，使得惨剧不断的山火灾害流露出别样的滋味。人们感受到了生命的力量，对于未来逐渐充满信心。
(Mark Pardew/The Associated Press)
(The Associated Press) SYDNEY: It was a chance encounter in the charred landscape of Australia's deadly wildfires: A koala sips water from a bottle offered by a firefighter.
David Tree noticed the koala moving gingerly on scorched paws as his fire patrol passed. Clearly in pain, the animal stopped when it saw Tree.
"It was amazing, he turned around, sat on his bum and sort of looked at me with (a look) like, put me out of my misery," Tree told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "I yelled out for a bottle of water. I unscrewed the bottle, tipped it up on his lips and he just took it naturally.
"He kept reaching for the bottle, almost like a baby."
The team called animal welfare officers to pick up the koala Sunday, the day after deadly firestorms swept southern Victoria state.
"I love nature, and I've handled koalas before. They're not the friendliest things, but I wanted to help him," Tree said.
Often mistakenly called koala bears because they resemble a child's teddy bear, the marsupial is actually a rather grumpy creature with a loud growl. It rarely comes down from the trees and doesn't like walking.
Koalas are especially vulnerable to wildfires because they move slowly on the ground.
The wildfires cut through parks and forests and sent countless wombats and other native species fleeing. One resident reported seeing kangaroos bouncing down the road with flames at their backs.
The fires also razed farmland, killing or panicking sheep and cattle. Television footage showed cows running down the main street of a smoke-filled town.
A count of the animals killed has not been made.
Tree said he found the koala in a burned-out forest near Mirboo North, about 90 miles (150 kilometers) east of Melbourne, Victoria's capital.
Koalas normally drink almost no water because they get almost all their fluids from the leaves they eat.
After the scorched koala sipped from the water bottle and Tree's crew moved on, animal welfare officials came by.
The koala was in pain but recovering with antibiotics, Jenny Shaw of the Mountain Ash Wildlife Shelter told Melbourne's The Herald Sun newspaper.
"She is lovely — very docile — and she has already got an admirer. A male koala keeps putting his arms around her," Shaw was quoted as saying. "
It will be a long road to recovery, but she should be able to be released back into the wild in about five months."
The Royal Society for the Protection of Animals said it was establishing shelters to care for thousands of pets and livestock affected by the fires.
Despite her gender, the now famous koala is nicknamed Sam. ♦
【Words & Expressions】
► charred v. 烧焦 ► sip v. 吸吮 ► gingerly adv. 小心翼翼地
► scorch v. 烧焦 ► patrol n. 巡逻 ► bum n. [俚] 屁股
► marsupial n. 有袋动物 ► grumpy adj. 性情乖戾 ► wombat n. 袋熊
► raze v. 夷为平地 ► docile adj. 驯良温顺的 ► livestock n. 牲畜
___________
► yell out (for) phr v. 呼喊 ► tip up phr v. （使）倾斜；（使）一边翘起
► put sb. out of one's misery 使（某人）摆脱痛苦；（某人）不再提心吊胆
（译文）
（美联社2月10日悉尼）：
澳洲致命山火中的特殊邂逅：消防员给一只受伤的考拉喂水。
消防员戴维·特里在执行灭火任务时发现，一只考拉正拖着烧伤的爪子缓慢地移动。显然它受了重伤，但当它看到特里时便立刻停了下来。特里10日在接受美联社记者的采访时说：“这实在太不可思议了！它环顾四周，坐了下来，然后看着我，仿佛要我救它。我打开一瓶水喂给它，它很自然地喝了起来，抓着瓶子，像个婴儿。”
消防员们随即通知了当地野生动物官员。澳大利亚动物福利组织当天已把这只考拉带走，而就在前一天山火严重肆虐了维多利亚州南部地区。
特里表示：“我热爱动物，我曾经照看过考拉。尽管他们不是最友好的动物，但我仍愿意帮助它。”
考拉之所以被称为“树袋熊”，是因为他们和孩子手中玩的泰迪熊长得很像，然而这种有袋动物却脾气暴躁，常喜欢大声咆哮。它们很少下树，也不喜欢在地上爬行，因而一旦山火来袭，它们便显得十分脆弱。
这场山火摧毁了大片公园和森林，使得袋熊等野生动物惊慌失措，四处奔逃。一位当地居民甚至看到一只尾巴着火的袋鼠逃到了公路上。大火同样将许多农场夷为平地，牛羊家畜损失惨重。电视画面中显示，在一座被烧焦的小镇里，一群奶牛在道路上奔逃。在这场山火中，野生动物伤亡惨重。
在维州首府墨尔本东南约150公里的米尔布诺思附近，戴维·特里在一片烧焦了的森林里发现了这只考拉。由于能够从桉树叶中得到足够多的水分，因此考拉一般不喝水。在给这只受伤的考拉喂完水后，特里一行队员又向灾区继续前行，随后澳大利亚动物福利组织来到了这里。
花楸野生动物收容所的工作人员詹妮·肖向墨尔本《先驱太阳报》透露，虽然这只考拉受了伤，但在注射了抗生素后它便能够康复。“她太可爱了，还很温顺，并且有一只雄性考拉一直抱着她，可见她已经有了追求者。她的康复过程将会十分漫长，但大约在五个月后，她会被放归大自然。”
澳大拉亚皇家动物保护协会说，他们正在筹建一个动物庇护所，供遭受到火灾影响的宠物和家畜栖身。
也许是营救的时候还不知道她的性别，这只因大火出了名的雌性考拉被取了个男孩的名字叫“萨姆”。
◎ 译外闲谈：
这幅温馨的画面，勾起了我在澳洲旅行的记忆。想起了悉尼海德公园的绿意盎然，想起了布里斯班动物园的那只树袋熊，想起了伊丽莎白老师那句临别赠言：Don't forget the blue sky and the red shoes!
盖逝者如斯夫，别君四载！
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