Name: 動物界最厲害的老爸！ (The Most Impressive Dads In The Animal Kingdom)
Uploaded: 2018-11-27T02:45:23.000Z
Duration: 3 min 2 s

Imagine you're about to be a proud new father, but first, you have to give birth to two-thousand babies.

想象一下，你即將成為一個驕傲的新父親，但首先，你必須生下兩千名嬰兒。

Well, if you're a male seahorse, that is part of the job.

好吧，如果你是一個雄性海馬，這是工作的一部分。

Turns out, there's a lot of animal dads out there who do all of the hard work.

原來，有很多動物爸爸都在做苦力。

The hardhead catfish takes parental sacrifice to the extreme.

硬頭鯰魚把父母的犧牲發揮到了極致。

To protect the eggs, he'll hold them in his mouth.

為了保護雞蛋，他會把雞蛋含在嘴裡。

The eggs take up so much space that he can't eat because he might swallow one.

雞蛋佔據了太多的空間，他不能吃，因為他可能會吞下一個。

So he'll fast for over two months while the eggs develop.

所以在卵子發育的時候，他會禁食兩個多月。

Believe it or not, the male giant water bug takes on an even heavier load.

不管你信不信，雄性巨型水蟲承擔的任務更重。

Females lay up to one-hundred eggs on the male's back.

雌性在雄性的背上產卵，最多可達一百枚。

He'll carry the eggs for the next two to three weeks as they develop.

在接下來的兩到三週內，隨著卵子的發育，他會帶著卵子。

But during that time, the eggs and mucus glue his wings down, so that he can't even fly, making him vulnerable to predators.

但在那段時間裡，卵和粘液把它的翅膀粘住了，所以它連飛都飛不起來，使它很容易受到捕食者的攻擊。

Plus, the eggs weigh him down so much, he has to rely on slower, easier prey like snails.

另外，卵的重量太重了，它不得不依靠蝸牛等速度較慢、較容易的獵物。

But it's worth it to ensure his future offspring are safe.

但為了保證他未來後代的安全，這也是值得的。

Luckily, for the water bug, he can return to his regular life after the eggs hatch because the babies fend for themselves.

幸運的是，對於水蟲來說，它可以在卵孵化後恢復正常的生活，因為寶寶們自力更生。

He doesn't just stick around to raise his chicks on his own, he raises multiple families at once.

他不僅自己堅持養小雞，還同時養了多個家庭。

During breeding season, the male rhea will build a nest to attract as many females as possible.

在繁殖季節，雄性瑞鶴會築巢吸引儘可能多的雌性。

He'll form a group with about five to seven females and mate with them that season.

它會與大約5到7只雌性組成一個群體，並在那個季節與它們交配。

The females lay their eggs in his nest and then skedaddle.

雌性在他的窩裡產卵，然後溜走。

Like, for good, leaving him to raise and defend all thirty or so chicks until they're about six months old.

比如，永遠讓他把三十多隻小雞全部養大，保衛到六個月左右。

Talk about the challenges of being an only parent.

Last but certainly not least, is the male emperor penguin, who does a lot of the hard work early on.

最後當然是雄性帝企鵝，它在早期做了很多艱苦的工作。

Female penguins entrust their eggs to the males.

But since penguins don't have nests, the males have to play a delicate balancing act.

但由於企鵝沒有巢穴，雄企鵝必須扮演一個微妙的平衡角色。

They keep the egg warm atop their feet and away from the frozen ground they stand on.

它們把雞蛋放在腳上保暖，遠離它們所站的冰凍地面。

They have to stay put and protect that egg.

他們必須呆在原地，保護那個蛋。

But the hard work doesn't even end there.

By the time the chicks hatch, the fathers are starved from fasting for weeks on end, but the chicks need to be fed.

等到小雞孵化的時候，父親已經連續幾周禁食餓得不行了，但小雞需要餵養。

So, dad manages to regurgitate some food from his esophagus to feed the chick until mom returns.

於是，爸爸設法從食道里反芻出一些食物來喂小雞，直到媽媽回來。

Looks like there's a lot of animal dads who deserve an award for Father of the Year.

看來，有很多動物爸爸都應該獲得年度最佳父親獎。