中英對照讀新聞》A bumper berry harvest has New Zealand’s weird flightless parrot in a rare mood for romance 1種漿果大豐收，讓紐西蘭奇特且不會飛的鸚鵡，陷入罕見的戀愛情緒中

紐西蘭1種漿果大豐收，激發該國瀕絕鴞鸚鵡的交配熱情。（美聯社）

◎盧永山

The world’s only flightless parrot species was once thought to be doomed by design. The kakapo is too heavy, too slow and, frankly, too delicious to survive around predators, and takes a shamelessly relaxed approach to reproduction.

這個世界上唯一不會飛的特有種鸚鵡，曾被認為註定要滅絕。鴞鸚鵡體型太重、速度太慢，坦白說，味道也太鮮美，難以在捕食者面前生存，牠們的繁殖方式也毫不掩飾地輕鬆自在。

請繼續往下閱讀...

But the nocturnal and reclusive New Zealand native birds’s fate is teetering toward survival after an unlikely conservation effort that has coaxed the population from 50 to more than 200 over three decades.

但這種夜行性且行蹤隱密的紐西蘭本土鳥類，其命運從原本的岌岌可危轉為得以存活，主要因為1個出人意料的保育措施，使其數量在30年間從50隻增加到200多隻，

This year, with a bumper crop of the strange parrot’s favorite berries prompting a rare enthusiasm for mating, those working to save the birds hope for a record number of chicks in February, which would move the kakapo closer to defying what was not long ago believed to be certain extinction.

今年這種奇特鸚鵡最愛的漿果大豐收，激發了牠們罕見的交配熱情。致力於拯救這種鳥類的人，希望今年2月能迎來創紀錄的雛鳥數量，這將使鴞鸚鵡更接近擺脫不久前被認為必將滅絕的命運。

新聞辭典

teeter：動詞，搖搖欲墜、蹣跚而行。例句：A town is teetering precariously on the edge of cliffs. （1座小鎮在懸崖邊緣搖搖欲墜，情況岌岌可危。）

coax：動詞，哄勸、勸誘、耐心處理。例句：She carefully coaxed the thread through the needle’s eye.（她小心翼翼地將線穿過針眼。）

不用抽 不用搶 現在用APP看新聞 保證天天中獎　 點我下載APP　 按我看活動辦法