野性南美洲（2000）

they can scan their path ahead.
它们的声纳准确无比
Their sonar is so precise that they can weave their way
可以让它们穿梭在水底的树枝迷宫里寻找鱼群
through a maze of submerged branches in search of fish.
嘴唇上类似刚毛的须毛可以帮助它们瞄准目标
Whisker-like bristles on their lips help them zero in on their target.
亚马逊江豚的来源也许是个谜
The botos' origins may be mysterious
但是亚马逊河里有些鱼确实是海中生物的后代
but some of the Amazon's fish certainly have a marine ancestry
例如这种魟
like stingrays.
它们血缘最近的表亲住在加勒比海里
Their nearest living relatives are in the Caribbean.
亚马逊河有3千多种鱼类
The Amazon has over three thousand kinds of fish.
这就是象鱼 世界上最大的淡水鱼
This is the pirarucu the world's largest fresh water fish.
而这些是最恶名昭彰的食人鱼
And these are the most notorious... piranhas.
这片水域里的生物非常多样化
The variety of life in these waters is extraordinary...
既然有这么多的鱼 就一定有捕鱼的猎人
and with so many fish there are bound to be fish hunters.
在这片水世界里
In this water world
凯门鳄位居食物链的最上层
Caiman are the top of the food chain...
它就像是水中的美洲虎
the aquatic equivalent of the jaguar.
红腹食人鱼本身是掠食者
Red-bellied piranhas are predators themselves
但是凯门鳄一口就把它们吞进去了
but to a caiman they're just another mouthful.
亚马逊河跟它的支流
The Amazon river and its tributaries
吸纳了地球上最大的热带雨林的水
drain the largest expanse of tropical rainforest on earth.
从安地斯山脉开始几乎是连绵不断地延伸到大西洋
Stretching almost unbroken from the Andes to the Atlantic
亚马逊丛林的生物种类
the Amazon jungle has a greater variety of life
比世上其他森林都多
than any other forest on the planet.
在两平方多英里的林地
In just over two square miles of forest
科学家曾经计算出3千种植物
scientists have countedthree thousand varieties of plants,
530种鸟类
five hundred and thirty kinds of birds
跟11种不同的猴子
and eleven different species of monkeys.
这里有数不尽的爬虫类，两栖类跟昆虫
There are countless reptiles amphibians and insects.
光是一棵树上就能找到650种甲虫跟80种蚂蚁
Six hundred and fifty species of beetle and eighty kinds of ant have been found on a single tree.
科学家对多样化的原因各有不同看法
Scientists disagree about the reasons for this diversity
但是几乎每一种动物
but in almost every group of animals
都有让人惊叹的丰富品种
the number of different species is extraordinary.
由于这里的生物种类繁多
Because there are so many species
大多都得身怀一技之长
most of them have to specialise.
侏儒狨是世界上最小的猴子
Pygmy marmosets are the world's smallest monkey.
它们只靠几种树的树汁维生
They live on the sap of just a few kinds of tree
用特化的牙齿咬开树皮让树汁流出来
gouging the bark with special teeth to release its flow.
它们只是亚马逊盆地30多种狨科动物之一
They're just one of over thirty species of marmoset and tamarin in the Amazon basin
是南美低地雨林独有的一群猴子
a group of monkeys unique to the lowland rainforests of South America.
像这些白肩狨大部份以家庭为单位
Like these tassel-eared marmosets most live in family groups.
负责繁殖的母猴加上一只或好几只公猴
A breeding female lives with one or more adult males
还有几只小猴住在一起
and several youngsters.
母猴生双胞胎是一大特色
Females typically give birth to twins
而且它们跟其他猴子不同
and unusually among monkeys
公猴要负责照顾小猴
it's the father who's left holding the babies.
白肩狨是机会主义者
Tassel-eared marmosets are opportunists.
除了树脂它们还吃昆虫，果实，鸟蛋
As well as gum, they eat insects fruit, birds' eggs
小蛇跟蜥蜴
small snakes and lizards...
几乎只要能弄得到手都吃
almost anything they can get their hands on.
幼猴就要长得快
The youngsters must develop fast
才能在危险竞争激烈的雨林里生存，
if they're to survive in the dangerous and competitive world of the rainforest.
亚马逊盆地位在安地斯山脉东边
Amazonia lies on the eastern side of the Andes
热带地区的豪雨灌溉肥沃的丛林
and here torrential tropical rains water the prolific jungle.
但是山脉阻隔了满载阴气的风
But the mountains block the moisture-bearing winds
所以西边有些地方几乎完全没有降雨
so some of the western side receives almost no rain.
世上最干燥的沙漠就在这里...亚他加马沙漠
Here lies the world's driest desert... the Atacama.
亚他加马沙漠可以好几年不下一点雨
The Atacama can go for years with literally no rain at all.
很难想像会有生物在这里存活
It's hard to imagine how anything could survive here.
不过就是有
And yet it does.
这些原驼
Guanacos.
这些南美骆驼可以忍♥受酷热跟严寒
These South American camels can tolerate extremes of heat and cold.
对骆驼来说
A desert might seem a better place for a camel
沙漠会比巴塔哥尼亚的雪地更适合
than the snows of Patagonia
但就算是骆驼 在亚他加马生活也是一大挑战
but the Atacama is a challenge even for them.
白天的气温可以上升到摄氏40度
Daytime temperatures can rise to forty degrees.
它们只能洗个尘土澡消消暑
Their only relief is a dry dustbath.
但是它们要靠什么维生?
But what can they live on?
这里几乎没有水 植物要怎么生长?
With hardly any water here how could plants possibly grow?
这就是在亚他加马沙漠生存的关键...太平洋
This is the key to survival in the Atacama the Pacific Ocean.
沙漠是位在山脉跟海洋之间的一块狭长地带
The desert is a narrow strip between the mountains and the sea.
海面上的阴润空气
Moist air over the water is chilled
被海岸附近的冷洋流冷却
by a cold ocean current just offshore
所以每天
so every day
都有一层雾从太平洋飘进来
a blanket of fog rolls in from the Pacific.
这一层雾可说是沙漠惟一的水源
The fog is almost the only source of water in the desert.
水气凝结在仙人掌的针♥刺♥上 刚好够地衣生长
Moisture condenses on the cactus spines enough for lichen to grow.
每天早上
And every morning
珍贵的水珠覆盖在地衣上头
the lichen is covered with the precious droplets of water.
它提供保命的水分
This water provides a life-giving drink
给亚他加马少数的强健居民
for the few hardy inhabitants of the Atacama
例如雀鸟
like diuca finches.
原驼靠吃地衣来摄取水分
The guanacos obtain moisture by eating the lichen delicately extracting it
它们用柔软灵敏的嘴唇，从仙人掌刺之间巧妙的拉出地衣
from between the cactus spines with their soft, sensitive lips.
它们也会吃长在仙人掌上的一种寄生植物的花
They also eat the flowers of a parasitic plant that grows on the cactus.
味道甜美，花蜜又多
Called quintral it's sweet and full of nectar.
原驼跟沙漠中其他生物
Guanacos and everything else in this desert
都生活在危险中
are living on the edge.
没有晨雾带来的水气
Without the moisture from the early morning fog
亚他加马沙漠基本不可能有生命
life in the Atacama would be almost impossible.
继续往南走
As you travel South
这个气候系统来自相反方向
the prevailing weather comes from the opposite direction
所以大♥陆♥的东边很干燥
so the eastern side of the continent is dry.
但这里最大的问题不是缺水
But here lack of water is not the most extreme problem
而是强风
it's the wind.
这是块位于暴风雨带的大地
This is the land of the Roaring Forties
狂风猛烈的吹打着巴塔哥尼亚的干燥的草地
ferocious winds that batter the dry grassy steppes of Patagonia.
住在这里的生物都必须跟不停的强风对抗
Anything that lives here has to contend with almost incessant gales.
这些是兔豚鼠是南美独有的大型啮齿类
These are maras large rodents unique to South America.
成年兔豚鼠在旷野里生活并且产下后代
Adult maras live and give birth to their young in the open
然后在地底洞穴扶养子女
but they rear them in an underground burrow
这里可以躲避冷风跟狐狸之类的掠食者
sheltered from the cold winds and predators like foxes.
兔豚鼠的地盘互相重叠
Mara territories overlap
常有好几对兔豚鼠住在同一个地洞里
so often several pairs share a burrow.
这些养殖场就像社区托儿所
These warrens act as a community creche.
鼠爸妈可以放下孩子去吃东西
The parents can leave their young to go and feed
但是一定有同伴会在这里看着它们
but there's always someone to keep an eye on them.
托儿所里可以容纳20到30只小宝宝
The nursery can have twenty or thirty young.
有时饥饿的小宝宝会想吸保姆的奶
Sometimes hungry infants try to suckle from the 'baby-sitter'.
保姆想把它们赶开
She tries to drive them off
但是有1/10的奶水都是这样偷吸来的
but they can steal a tenth of their milk this way.
在狂风横扫的巴塔哥尼亚
In windswept Patagonia
地洞可说是最好的房♥地♥产♥
a hole in the ground counts as prime real estate
有些动物会来强占
and it's a magnet for squatters.
在这里连鸟都得在地底筑巢
Here even the birds nest underground.
只要兔豚鼠一转过身去
As soon as the maras backs are turned
穴鸮就想占据它们的家
burrowing owls try to take over their home.
现在是搬进去的好时机吗？
Could this be the moment to move in?
它们马上就被发现了
But they're soon spotted.
这一次它们被赶了出去
This time, the squatters are evicted.
兔豚鼠保住了自己的洞穴
The maras keep their burrow.
穴鸮不是巴塔哥尼亚惟一在地底筑巢的鸟类
In Patagonia burrowing owls aren't the only birds that nest underground.
没有树可以筑巢
With no trees to nest in
掘穴鹦哥就在沙岩峭壁上挖洞
burrowing parrots excavate holes in a sandstone cliff.
这些鹦哥族群的数量可能超过5万只
There can be over fifty thousand birds in these colonies.
这里是地球上少数几个
This is one of the few places on earth
鹦哥在海边筑巢的地方
where parrots nest by the seaside.
南美野生动物的多样化可不是到海岸线为止
The diversity of South American wildlife doesn't end at the coastline.
南美洲四周环绕着世上最富饶的海洋
The seas that surround the continent are some of the richest in the world.
富含养分的冷流向上涌出喂养大群的鱼群
Upwellings of cold, nutrient-rich water feed huge shoals of fish...
这些鱼就是海鸟跟海中哺乳类的食物
food in turn for seabirds and marine mammals.
鱼群的庞大数量让人叹为观止