BBC地球系列：非洲（2013）

mean fishing is too unpredictable
所以一次抚养两只雏鸟风险太大了
for them to gamble on trying to raise two chicks.
在这里 没有什么是一成不变的
Nothing here stays the same for long.
每年的这个时候
This is the time of year
东非的旱季就要开始了
when Eastern Africa is beginning to dry.
河流和水坑都慢慢萎缩
The rivers and waterholes are shrinking.
土地不断干涸
The land continues to dry out.
形势越来越严峻了
Tensions rise.
河马们不放过最后一点稀泥
Hippos seek what relief they can.
饱受严酷干旱的同时
This time of relentless drying
另一种力量也要来蹂躏这片土地了
is also when another force of change ravages the land.
毫无征兆得 熊熊大火开始在这片干旱的草原肆虐
Without warning, fires rip through these tinder-dry plains.
火焰以每小时50英里的速度席卷草原
The flames sweep across the savannah at 50 miles an hour...
火焰温度近一千度
reaching temperatures of nearly a thousand degrees,
所到之处皆化为灰烬
consuming everything in their path.
每年这里的着火面♥积♥比英国国土面♥积♥都大
Each year, an area larger than Britain goes up in smoke.
但是这种毁灭也能带来机遇
But this destruction can bring opportunity,
前提是你做好了冒险的准备
if you're prepared to take a risk.
卷尾燕 食蜂鸟和金丝雀勇敢地
Drongos, bee-eaters and rollers bravely pluck
在火焰中捕食四处逃窜的昆虫
fleeing insects from amongst the flames.
没什么比碳烤蝗虫更美味了
There's little better than a char-grilled grasshopper.
那些大火似乎是毁灭性的
These fires may appear devastating,
但事实上 它们是东非草原自然循环的一部分
but they are, in fact, part of a natural cycle
是其再生所必不可少的
that is essential for the regeneration of East Africa's grasslands.
但有时循环会被打破
But sometimes the cycle is broken,
而改变却迫在眉睫
just when a change is most needed.
这里是安伯塞利平原
Here, on the plains of Amboseli,
在乞力马扎罗山的山脚下
in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro,
季雨已有两年没来润泽这片土地
the seasonal rains have failed for the last two years.
今年 季雨依旧迟迟未降
And this year, they are already long overdue.
这是半个世纪以来最严重的干旱
It's the hardest drought for half a century.
安博塞利平原一直是大象的天堂
Amboseli is usually a haven for elephants.
眼前的荒地本应绿树成荫 碧草连天
These plains should be green and covered with grass.
但现在 只剩漫天飞尘
Now there is nothing but dust.
象群被迫频繁地迁徙
This family is forced to travel constantly,
搜寻一切可以作为食物的东西
searching for anything they can eat.
小象必须紧跟队伍
The young must keep up,
有时连喝奶的时间都没有
sometimes there's not even time to suckle.
绿草已经全部消失
With the grass gone,
大象只能在尘土中找到枯萎的细枝
all the elephants can scratch from the dust is withered twigs.
成年象尚能勉强以此为生
The adults might just survive on this,
小象却无法支撑太久
but it will not support a calf for long.
象群中的每只母象
Every mother in the herd
都在尽力为自己的孩子提供奶水
is struggling to provide milk for her calf.
寻找食物迫在眉睫
The search for food is increasingly urgent.
象群在继续行进
As the herd moves on,
而眼前的母象正面临一个艰难的抉择
this female faces a terrible choice.
是跟随队伍继续前行
To carry on with her family,
还是留下来陪伴幼崽
or stay behind with her calf,
它已经虚弱得几乎无法站立
who's becoming too weak to even stand.
象群很快就将远离视线
They will soon be out of sight.
但母亲的天性让她选择留下
But her instinct is to stay.
她不会抛弃她的孩子
She won't abandon her baby.
小象停止了呼吸
With the calf's last breath,
她知道自己在这场生死战役里输了
she knows that her battle is lost.
比尘土飞扬的平原更恶劣的生存环境也大有所在
There are places even more hostile than the dust-choked plains.
眼前奇异的景象是延绵在非洲东部的湖泊
These alien landscapes are actually the sun-baked salt crusts
被日晒盐碱化后形成的盐壳
of a chain of lakes that run through East Africa.
那些碱湖的面貌是一天天慢慢变化而来的
The face of these soda lakes changes day by day,
因为太阳会蒸干湖水 留下沉积的盐碱
as the sun evaporates the water, leaving the salts behind.
火山泉使这里的水具有毒性
The waters here are toxic, poisoned by volcanic springs.
但即使如此 此处依然有生命存在
But life does exist, even here.
那奇怪的颜色是水藻产生的
The strange colours are created by algae,
那些特殊的水藻可以适应这里的腐蚀性液体
specially adapted to live in this corrosive liquid.
而正是这些水藻
And it is these algae
吸引了东非最令人惊叹的动物之一
that attract one of the most astonishing animals found in East Africa.
在柏哥利亚湖的天然蒸气喷泉间
Among the steaming geysers of Lake Bogoria,
超过一百万的小红鹤
over a million lesser flamingos
栖居在那极具腐蚀性的水中
bathe and feed in the caustic water.
他们在水藻爆发期大量集结
They gather whenever the algae bloom.
如此大数目的聚集
These huge numbers
形成地球上最壮观的野生动物奇景之一
create one of the greatest wildlife spectacles on earth.
几乎全世界的小红鹤
Almost all the world's lesser flamingos
都栖居在这片绵延的湖水中
live on this chain of lakes,
它们会从一个湖迁至另一个湖
moving from one lake to another
根据不同湖中的水藻数量而定
as the amount of algae in each changes.
湖岸旁 一座座火山口提醒着我们
All along the lake shore, volcanic vents are a reminder
眼前的土地会随着火山爆发随时变化
of the forces that continue to change this land.
地平线处的那道斑斓色彩预示着
And a streak of colour on the horizon
干涸的平原即将受到润泽
signals that relief for the parched plains is on its way.
终于 持续的暴风雨浸透了干渴的大地
At last, countless storms drench the thirsty ground.
大雨再次改变了一切
Rain changes everything, yet again.
一只非洲冠鹰正焦急地等待
A crowned eagle has been desperately waiting
这场大雨能够带来的食物
for what she hopes the rain will bring...
来喂饱她饥饿的孩子
Food for her hungry chick.
在这里筑巢是她最大的赌注
Nesting here has been her biggest gamble.
她的孩子能否成活 取决于远方
Her chick's life depends on the arrival of creatures
刚果热带雨林的生物是否到来
from the far rainforests of the Congo.
漫长的等待即将结束
Her wait will soon be over.
非洲最大的哺乳类动物迁徙正在进行
The largest mammal migration in Africa is on the move.
数以千万计的果蝠降落在这片
Ten million fruit bats are drawn to this tiny forest,
位于东部大草原边界的小森林上
on the edge of the eastern savannah.
它们贪婪地啃食着水果
The bats flock here to gorge themselves on fruit.
那正是冠鹰和她的幼崽等待的时刻
It's what the crowned eagle and her chick have been waiting for.
但捕食者并不只此一家
But they're not alone.
其他鹰类早已从数英里外奔赴此地
Other eagles have flown in from miles around...
有鱼鹰
Fish eagles,
猛雕
martial eagles,
都准备尽享蝙蝠盛宴
and they're all after the bats.
冠鹰在数月前冒险一赌 筑巢于此
The gamble the crowned eagle took months ago by nesting here
现在终于有了回报
has paid off.
事实上 她是唯一一只在此筑巢的鹰类
She is the only eagle to actually nest in this forest.
也是唯一冒险选择在果实成熟
The only one who took the risk to breed here,
蝙蝠蜂拥而至之前 在此繁衍后代的鸟儿
well before the trees came into fruit and the bats flooded in.
她每两年才繁殖一次
She only breeds once every two years,
所以时机必须拿捏得恰到好处
so her timing must be perfect.
几个月后 蝙蝠群便会离开
In a few months, the bats will leave,
但她的赌局意味着小雏鹰的生命
but her gamble means her chick
将有一个完美的开始
will have the best possible start in life.
草原曾经水草丰美 也曾被焚烧殆尽
These grasslands have been grazed and burned
更经历过漫长而严酷的干旱时期
and have endured the harshest drought in generations...
但随着雨季的到来 万物即将复苏
But with the rains, they're beginning to recover.
昔日尘土飞扬的安波塞利平原
And on the once dust-choked plains of Amboseli,
又恢复了往日的美好光景
there's a return to the good times.
数以百计的大象死于干旱之中
The drought here killed hundreds of elephants,
现如今 幸存者们终于得以重返家园
but the survivors are now returning home.
象群之中 存在着一个惊喜
And with them, there's a surprise.
一个新生命
A newborn.
食物充足的情况下
Surrounded by food,
小象便能专注于更重要的事情...
the youngster can concentrate on more important things...
比如追赶白鹭
like chasing egrets.
强壮的公象也回归了
The bulls also return.
眼前的公象已经等待多年
This bull has waited many years
想要得到繁衍下一代的机会
for his chance to father the next generation.
现在 他必须夺得最上层的统治地位
Now, he must fight his way to the top.
他的对手可是个庞然大物
But his rival is massive.
两只象的象头都有一辆汽车那么重
Each of their heads weighs as much as a car.
战斗已经持续了几天
They have been duelling for days.
到了第三天 战斗终于进入了高♥潮♥
Now in its third day, the contest is reaching a climax.
很快 其中一员便会被迫投降
Soon, one will be forced to concede.
撞击如此凶猛 甚至可以将象牙粉碎