他还向世人发出警告,鳄鱼是多么的稀少。1988年,即在他作为一名研究生起草一份拯救鳄鱼的行动计划而对鳄鱼进行登记分类之前,所有23种鳄鱼都受到威胁或濒危。鳄鱼的数量由于人们对它们的憎恶和鳄鱼皮包交易而减少。仅在几年前,在探险巴西亚马逊河的过程中,约翰?瑟布贾纳森先生发现了被像鱼类一样不分青红皂白地猎杀的美洲黑鳄。在1997年巡查长江入海口的过程中,他估摸仍在野外的仅有120只扬子鳄。于是他在此开始了一项十分细致的扬子鳄蛋收集行动,然后在布朗克斯动物园人工饲养,再放归大自然。令他高兴的是,布朗克斯的扬子鳄还记得如何在野外生存。
Crocodilians, he explained, were much more like birds than snakes. They built nests he hadto hunt for, poling his punt along sandbanks to find their holes or poking in the forest debrisunder the trees: a thin, laconic, clear-eyed figure as quiet and unobtrusive as thecreatures he was trailing. He watched them brood their young, listening for the cheeps thatannounced the eggs were hatching and carrying the young to water. The Nile crocodilerolled its eggs gently in its teeth to help them hatch. In the WCS labs at the Bronx Zoo hewould pull the papery, blood-pink shell from a hatchling and announce: It s his birthday!with a father s pride.
他解释道,与蛇比起来,鳄鱼明显更像鸟。鳄鱼们构筑他必须得通过寻找才能见到的巢穴,他是通过顺着沙洲划平底船、或是拨弄林中植物沉积物去寻找。他这种安全性差、手段简单、但目的明确的寻找方式一似他正在跟踪的鳄鱼一样,不事声张、不引人注意。他通过注意倾听预示鳄蛋正在破壳和送雏鳄入水时的雏鳄吱叫声,观察鳄鱼孵育雏鳄的过程。尼罗河鳄是通过在其齿腔内轻轻滚动鳄蛋来帮助孵化。在布朗克斯野生动物保护协会的实验室里,他从一个人工孵化的雏鳄身上扯下如纸一样薄的血红色蛋壳,带着父亲般的自豪感宣布:今天是它的生日!
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