Name: 拯救白犀牛 - 6分鐘英語 (Saving the white rhino - 6 Minute English)
Uploaded: 2021-07-19T21:01:10.000Z
Duration: 6 min 16 s

- Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil. - And I'm Sam.

- 你好。這裡是 BBC 英語學習頻道的 6 分鐘英語節目。我是 Neil。 - 而我是 Sam。

In this programme, we'll be hearing a news story linked to the 'Nature vs. Nurture' debate, not concerning a human, but a rhinoceros!

在本集節目中，我們將聽一個與談論 「生育 vs. 培育」有關的新聞故事，這跟人類沒有關係，而是跟一隻犀牛有關！

The extremely rare northern white rhino of East Africa was on the brink of extinction when the second-to-last living male, Suni, died in 2014, leaving behind two females, Najin and Fatu—the  last living creatures of their species.

極其罕見的北東非白犀牛瀕臨滅絕，倒數第二隻在世的公犀牛 Suni 於 2014 年去世，留下了兩隻母犀牛Najin 跟 Fatu，牠們是該物種僅存的最後兩隻。

Conservationists started an artificial breeding programme, using eggs from the females and sperm from Suni to produce an embryo—an unborn animal in the very early stages of development.

保育者開始了一個人工繁殖計劃，使用雌性的卵子和 Suni 的精子以產生胚胎——意即一種處於發育早期未出生的動物。

Recently there's been a new development in the story, but before we hear more, it's time for my quiz question.

最近，這個故事有一個的新發展，但在我們詳細深入之前，該是我的測驗時間了。

The name, rhinoceros , comes from the ancient Greek, but what exactly does it mean? Is it: a) thick skin, b) horned nose, or c) small eye?

犀牛這個名字源自於古希臘，但它到底是什麼意思呢？是 a) 厚皮膚、b) 有角的鼻子，還是 c）小眼睛？

That's a tricky one because rhinos have all three!

這問題很難，因為以上三樣犀牛都有！

OK, Sam, we ll find out later. Now let's get back to the story of those precious northern rhino embryos.

好的，Sam，我們晚點會揭曉。現在讓我們回到這些珍貴的北白犀胚胎的故事。

Well, the good news is that so far five embryos have been produced; they're being frozen until they can be implanted in southern rhinos—the northern species' more common cousin.

好消息是，到目前為止已經繁殖了五個胚胎； 它們被冷凍著，直到它們可以植入南白犀體內——也就是北白犀更常見的表親。

Conservationist Thomas Hildebrandt runs the rhino breeding programme.

保育者 Thomas Hildebrandt 帶領犀牛的繁殖計劃。

He spoke to BBC World Service's, Science in Action, who asked him whether the embryos were genetically from the northern species.

他接受了 BBC 國際台的節目《實戰科學》的採訪， 該節目訪問他這些胚胎是否來自北方物種的基因。

Absolutely right. That's not hybrids, that's pure northern white rhino embryos which were generated with the desired breeding partner, Suni, who died in 2014.

完全沒錯。牠們不是混種，牠們是純種的北白犀胚胎，由理想的繁殖夥伴 Suni 產生的，而牠已在 2014 去世了。

So, we have embryos which have a very high quality; there's no inbreeding effect on these embryos, and it's so important to make the next step, to transfer these embryos because we can preserve life, biological material, in liquid nitrogen,

所以，我們的胚胎的質量非常高，這些胚胎沒有近親繁殖的影響，而下一步非常重要，就是移植這些胚胎，因為我們可以在生物材料——液氮中保存生命，

but what we can't do—we can't preserve social knowledge and therefore we need desperately a calf on the ground so that these two existing northern white rhinos can teach the new calf how to behave as a northern white rhino.

但是我們做不到是，我們不能保存社會知識，因此我們迫切需要一頭小犀牛的出現，這樣這兩隻現存的北白犀就可以教新的小犀牛如何行為表現像北白犀。

Having genetically pure embryos prevents the birth of hybrids—animals that have been bred from two different species.

擁有基因純正的胚胎可以防止雜交——意即從兩個不同物種繁育而來的動物。

It's also important the embryos have no inbreeding—breeding of a young animal from two closely related parents, because this can cause disease.

胚胎沒有近親繁殖也很重要——近親繁殖意即從兩個血緣相近的父母繁殖出一隻年輕的動物，而該行為會導致疾病。

Fortunately, Thomas and his team have preserved five healthy and genetically pure northern rhino embryos in liquid nitrogen.

幸運的是，Thomas 和他的團隊已經在液氮中保留了五個健康且基因純正的北白犀胚胎 。

But while they can preserve nature, what Thomas's team can't provide is nurture—the social knowledge that a young northern rhino, or calf, can only learn from other northern rhinos.

但是，雖然他們可以保護自然，但 Thomas 的團隊無法提供的是養育——年輕的北白犀或幼崽能向其他北白犀學習的社會知識。

And since Najin and Fatu, the last remaining northern rhinos on Earth, are getting old, the race is on to breed a young rhino calf before they die.

由於地球上僅存的北白犀 Najin 和 Fatu 正在變老，因此該物種必須在牠們死前繁殖一頭小犀牛。

The good news for the survival of the northern white rhino is that experiments to implant the delicate embryos in southern rhinos have been successful.

對於北白犀的生存來說，有個好消息是，在南白犀體內植入脆弱胚胎的實驗已經成功。

Here's Thomas Hildebrandt again talking about these recent experiments with BBC World Service programme, Science in Action:

下面是 Thomas Hildebrandt 再次於 BBC 國際台的《實戰科學》節目中對於近期這些實驗的談論：

We will, for sure, not wait until this pregnancy is completed because it takes 16 months for a full pregnancy in a rhinoceros.

我們當然不會等到這次懷孕完成，因為犀牛懷孕完全需要 16 個月。

So, if this embryo implants, and we can see that on ultrasound, and form a nice placenta, that is the goal for us to proceed with the next step on the northern white rhino embryos.

所以，如果這個胚胎植入，我們也可以在超音波上看到形成一個很好的胎盤，這就是我們對北白犀胚胎要進行的下一個目標。

Normally it takes 16 months for a female rhino to complete her pregnancy—the state in which a woman or female animal has a baby developing inside her.

通常情況下，雌性犀牛需要 16 個月才能完成懷孕——意即女性或雌性動物體內有嬰兒發育的狀態。

But in the case of the northern rhino, the race is on to birth calves who can learn the rhino rules of social behaviour from Aunty Najin and Granny Fatu while they're still alive.

但在北白犀的情況下，該物種致力於生出幼崽，這樣牠們就可以在 Najin 阿姨和  Fatu 奶奶還活著的時候，從牠們身上學習犀牛的社會行為。

Which is why conservationists are monitoring the pregnancy using ultrasound—a procedure using sound waves to create images of internal body parts, or in this case, growing rhino babies.

這就是保育者使用超音波監測懷孕的原因——意即一種使用音波來創建身體內部部位圖像的程序，在這種情況下是觀看正在生長的犀牛寶寶。

It's an unusual episode in the ongoing 'Nature vs. Nurture' debate.

本集是關於談論仍在進行式的「生育 vs. 培育」特集。

And hopefully a big step towards restoring the northern white rhino population so that future generations get to see these magnificent creatures with their thick skin, horned nose, and...

希望朝著恢復北白犀物種邁出一大步，這樣子孫後代就能看到這些擁有厚厚皮膚、有角的鼻子和...

And small eyes, Neil? So, what was the answer to your quiz question.

和小眼睛，那麼你測驗的答案是什麼呢？

Yes, I asked you what the name 'rhinoceros' meant. What did you say, Sam?

是的，我問你犀牛名字的意思是什麼。Sam，你回答什麼？

I guessed it was a) thick skin. Was I right?

我猜測是 a）厚皮膚。我說的對嗎？

Well, rhinos certainly do have thick skin, but their name actually comes from the Greek  meaning, 'horned nose'.

犀牛當然有厚皮膚，但牠們的名字實際上來自希臘語，意思是「有角的鼻子」。

Well, luckily I've got a thick skin too, so I won't take it personally!

幸運的是我臉皮也很厚，所以我不會在意！

Let's have another look at the vocabulary we've learned, starting with embryo—an unborn animal or human still inside its mother's womb.

讓我們再複習一下我們學到的詞彙，從胚胎開始——意即一個未出生的動物或人，仍在其母親的子宮內。

A hybrid is an animal or plant that has been bred from two different species.

混種是由兩個不同物種培育而成的動物或植物。

Inbreeding is when a young animal is born from closely related parents.

近親繁殖是指年幼動物是血緣相近的父母所生出來的。

A calf is the name for the young of several large mammals including cows, elephants and whales, as well as rhinos.

「Calf」是幾種大型哺乳動物的幼崽名字，包括乳牛、大象和鯨魚，以及犀牛。

Pregnancy means being pregnant or growing a baby inside you.

「Pregnancy」意味著妊娠的，或在體內孕育嬰兒。

And finally, ultrasound is used to see internal organs or a baby developing inside a woman.

最後，超音波用於觀察女性體內發育的內臟器官或嬰兒。

And that's all from this species-saving edition of 6 Minute English.

以上是本集物種拯救版的 6 分鍾英語。