黄石公园（2009）

For six months Yellowstone endures an unrelenting winter.
黄石公园长达六个月的严冬
An ice world of hunters.
是一个狩猎与被狩猎的
And hunted.
冰雪世界
But now footsteps on the slopes of a mountain
现在山坡上的足印
herald a change in the season.
预示着季节的变换
The sun regains its strength.
太阳重新焕发活力
Water flows again.
水再次流动
The race begins to recover winter's losses.
各种族都忙着弥补在冬天失去的东西
To play.
玩耍
Learn.
学习
And breed.
和繁殖
But the summer ahead will be fleeting
但在这片不可预知的荒野中
and far from easy
即将到来夏天是短暂的
in this unpredictable wilderness.
度过它也绝非易事
It's April.
现在是四月
The land lies exhausted by winter.
这片大地摆脱了冬天
Everything is waiting for the return of the sun's warmth.
万物都在等待太阳重新给予他们温暖
The end of winter comes late
美国多山的西北部
to the mountainous northwest of the United States.
冬天迟迟不肯离开
And in particular, it lingers in Yellowstone.
尤其是在黄石公园逗留最久
The heart of Yellowstone is a high, cold plateau
黄石公园的中心地带
8,000 feet up, surrounded by the spires of the Rocky Mountains.
是洛矶山脉中海拔8000英尺 群峰环绕的寒冷高地
After five months sleeping in those mountains,
在山中睡足五个月后
a powerful presence returns.
一种强大的生物又登场了
This female grizzly bear
这头雌灰熊
has awoken early to find food for her two-year-old cubs.
为了替它2岁大的幼熊找食物早早醒来
But she may have brought her family here too early.
但是这一回她可能把一家人带过来太早了
The Tetons,
提腾地区
on the extreme southern edge of the Yellowstone plateau.
位于黄石公园高地的最南边
It's where the spring thaw normally begins.
通常春天的脚步从这里开始
But this year it's come late.
但是今年春天姗姗来迟
Deep snow is still a novelty for her cubs.
对她的幼崽而言厚厚的雪很新奇
But she is much more focused.
但她有更需要关注的事情
Led by her nose, she risks her 300-pound bulk
在鼻子的引导下 她冒险
on the thin ice of a bend in the Snake River.
在覆盖于蛇河的薄薄冰层上移♥动♥着她约300磅的身躯
It doesn't look promising
看起来好象没什么指望
but her cubs follow with only a little hesitation.
但她的幼崽只稍犹豫了一下又跟了上来
With paws that can knock down an elk,
她现在用能打倒一头麋鹿的掌
she feels delicately in the water.
细致优雅地在水中感觉摸索
A fish frozen beneath the ice by this cold winter.
一条鱼在寒冷的冬天被冻结在冰面之下
One fish won't feed the family
一条鱼喂不饱全家
but she knows there are almost certainly more.
但是她几乎很肯定地知道这还有更多的鱼
The cubs must learn to find them.
小熊必须学会这项技能
A little success for one of the cubs.
一只幼崽小有收获
This mother bear's experience
母熊的经验
gives her family a good chance of survival until spring arrives.
对她全家在春天到来前的生存会有很大帮助
They will return again and again as the thaw releases more fish.
雪融过后会露出更多的鱼他们将一再地回到这里
On the warmer plains and valleys that surround the plateau
在高地周围更温暖的平原和山谷
grazers are on the move.
草食动物正在行进
They left the high country to avoid the worst of the winter,
他们为躲避冬天的严寒离开了高处的原野
and now begin the long journey towards the heart of Yellowstone
现在为了赶上夏天又开始朝黄石公园的中心地带
in time for summer.
长途跋涉
These elk are led by experienced adults
这些麋鹿由经验丰富的成年引导
who have made this trip many times before.
这趟旅程他们重复走过多次
They are followed on their migration by the most ancient of American grazers.
跟在他们旁边的是美国最古老的一种草食动物
Pronghorn.
叉角羚
Though predators may follow, none can outpace them.
虽然捕食者可能紧紧跟着猎物但他们的速度无人能及
Over distance, these are the fastest animals in the world,
徒步长途迁徙的情况下这种远距离行军
taking a long migration in their stride.
他们属于世界上走得最快的动物
Migrating elk and pronghorn must follow the advancing thaw.
麋鹿和叉角羚得循着积雪的融化前进
But higher up in the valleys one animal is well ahead of them.
但比较高的山谷中有种动物早已在它们前面
Bison are adapted for cold.
野牛适应了寒冷
These herds need to be in Yellowstone early
这些兽群要尽早到达黄石公园
to have time to bring up their young in the short summer ahead.
以便在即将到来的短暂夏日中把他们的下一代抚养长大
Calves born during the journey will be tested.
旅途中产下的小牛将接受考验
Clues to why the herds are drawn to the Yellowstone plateau
黄石公园高地深厚而独特历史向我们提供了
lie in its deep and unique history.
兽群被吸引至此的线索
This plateau is the cratered bowl of a huge sleeping volcano
此处高地由巨大的碗状休眠火山和地表下
and molten rock below the surface still pushes the land up
岩浆组成 而火山和岩浆仍不断地将它
to the cold of high altitude.
推向更冷更高的海拔
But it has not been the only force to shape the land.
但这不是改变地貌的唯一力量
Millennia ago the volcano was covered by an ice sheet
数几千年以前一个大冰原覆盖着这个火山
thousands of feet deep.
冰原厚达数千英尺
The few glaciers that border Yellowstone are an echo of a time
当冰川冲刷打磨着整个高地时
when ice scoured and smoothed the entire plateau.
黄石公园边缘的几个冰河不断发出巨大的回声
When these great ice sheets retreated,
当这些巨大的冰盖消退
they left pulverised rocks in their wake,
所过之处留下被挤压破碎的石砾
the foundation for fertile soil
成为肥沃土壤的基础
and some of the richest natural grasslands in America.
形成美国富饶天然牧场中的几个
But in May this year,
今年的五月
in the heart of Yellowstone, that grass is still beneath thick snow.
黄石公园中心地带 草仍被深埋在厚雪之下
Something this ground squirrel was clearly not expecting.
显然不是这只地松鼠所期望的情形
But as the sun's strength returns,
当太阳重拾它的力量
spring bulbs start to push through the late snow.
春天把残雪溶尽
At last a sign that winter is losing its grip.
并最终宣告冬天不再掌控这里
Bluebirds, too delicate to survive deep winter here,
脆弱得难以在这里的存活下来的知更鸟
now return to take advantage of the first hatch of stoneflies
现在回到一条解冻的河 它们要充分利用
from a thawing river.
石蝇第一次孵化的时机
As six months of snow and ice begins to melt,
当六个月里所下的雪和冰开始融化
Yellowstone starts to come back to life.
黄石公园开始恢复生机
Cascading snowmelt swells the streams and rivers.
逐级的融雪汇成小溪和河流
It's a hazard that the migrating herds must cross.
它是迁徙的兽群必须穿越的危险地方之一
Young are barely up to the task.
对幼兽来说几乎是不可能的任务
The Yellowstone River has increased its flow tenfold.
黄石河的流量猛增了十倍
In less than two weeks
在二周之内
the thaw has brought a remarkable change to the heart of Yellowstone.
融雪为黄石公园的中心带来了显著的变化
As the migrating herds arrive in the plateau's river valleys,
当迁徙的兽群抵达高地河谷中时
the spring is here.
春天来临了
This is why they have made the journey.
这就是他们为何跋涉至此
After the famine of winter,
在冬天的饥荒后
food is everywhere.
现在食物遍地都是
Birds have flown in from as far away as the Arctic and subtropics.
鸟类从远至北极圈和亚♥热♥带的地方飞到此地
Canada geese join flocks of white pelicans to breed here.
加拿大雁群和白色的鹈鹕在这里繁殖
A snow-covered wasteland is transformed
一个白雪覆盖的荒地
to an American Serengeti.
变成了美国的塞伦盖蒂(非洲有名的大草原)
But it's a landscape like no other.
但它是独有的奇景
Geysers made Yellowstone famous.
喷泉让黄石公园闻名遐迩
Yellowstone sits above the molten core of a volcano.
黄石公园座落在火山的熔化核心上
Underground water becomes superheated and erupts into the air.
地下水被过热化向空气中喷发
Strangely, geysers and hot springs can creep around the landscape.
奇妙的是 喷泉和温泉蔓延在景区的周围
The curious shapes of Grotto Geyser are actually trees,
岩穴喷泉的奇特形状实际上
entombed and petrified by minerals dissolved in the water.
由水中溶解的矿物质在树木上沉积和钙化而成
Hot water scorches and drowns the roots of trees encroaching on the valleys.
沸水将那些侵占山谷的树根烫死淹死
It can keep the forests in check and the rich pastures open.
这能使森林边界受到限制而保持富饶的牧场开放
Those pastures now produce the new grass needed to make rich milk
那些牧场现在长出了新草 满足制♥造♥足够牛奶的需求
and feed a bison baby boom.
以喂养纷纷出生的年幼野牛
The few calves born on the migration
成百成百的新生小牛
are now joined by hundreds of new youngsters.
不断地加入到那些在迁徙途中出生的幼牛群
The predators have been waiting for this.
捕食者们在此守候多时
Coyotes have a voracious reputation here,
土狼出了名的贪婪
but on its own this one is certainly no match for a healthy bison and her calf.
但孤身一人对付不了一头成年野牛和她的牛犊
Pronghorn give birth to twins,
叉角羚生下一对双胞胎
each carefully cleaned to hide their smell from predators.
每只都要经过细心清洁避免捕食者闻到他们的味道
While they are with her they are relatively safe
当他们和她在呆一起时他们是相对安全的
and for now the coyote is content with the afterbirth.
而且土狼目前满足于到手的胎盘
But the mother pronghorn must leave her calves alone while she grazes
但当母亲吃草时她的羊羔就只好被丢在一旁
and with legs as wobbly as stilts,
他们的腿像高跷一样晃来晃去
their best defence is to lie low.
所以最好的防卫还是躺下
She has young of her own to worry about, a demanding litter of nine,
土狼也有自己的小孩要操心 她一胎产下了九个
whose arrival has been carefully timed to coincide with an abundance of food.
而且出生时间得与食物丰富的时间相一致