引用南非水利与环境事务部发布的最新报告显示,由于受人类活动的干扰,非洲企鹅数量正急剧下降,国际自然保护联盟已将非洲企鹅列为濒危物种。 报告说,上世纪20年代,生活在非洲各国的非洲企鹅共有100多万对,其中多数在南非,但到了上世纪50年代,这一数字下降到14.7万对,到2009年,已锐减至2.5万对。也就是说目前的数量只有80年前的2.5%,而这一下降状况还在持续中。 报告还说,造成非洲企鹅数量锐减的原因主要包括人类大量掠取企鹅产下的蛋,对企鹅栖息环境的破坏以及海水污染。 报告提出,有关当局如果不采取强有力的保护措施,非洲企鹅或许会在不久的将来彻底消失。 第五集:撒哈拉(Sahara) 北部非洲是世界上最大的沙漠——撒哈拉沙漠——的所在地。在沙漠的边缘地带,巨大的斑马激烈地争夺着不断减少的资源;而老鼠为了躲避地表的热量以一种怪异的方式生活在地下。在沙漠内部,沙丘不断发出“飕飕”声响;骆驼在他们的领头者的帮助下寻找水源,而小燕子则飞越上千公里来寻找隐秘的绿洲。 注:这集里提到了屎克螂;几天前刚刚看到一则有趣的消息: 据美国国家地理网站报道,瑞典隆德大学生物学家近日一项最新研究表明,蜣螂(Dung Beetle)俗称屎克螂,是利用太空中的银河来为自己导航,这也是动物世界已知拥有如此技能的唯一物种。据研究人员介绍,这种小昆虫可以很快地让自己适应银河在天空中所形成的明亮光带,并沿着相对于这条光带的某种直线路径移动。 这项研究实验近日在南非实施完成。瑞典隆德大学生物学家埃里克-华伦特介绍说,“这是一种复杂的导航技术。对于这么小的动物来说,拥有如此技能是相当难得的。”生物学家们的研究成果发表于《当代生物学》杂志之上。 对于蜣螂这种小昆虫来说,沿着直线运动是非常重要的。它们生活于一个极为复杂的世界,它们之间对于食物(粪便)的争夺也是非常激烈。当它们发现一堆热气腾腾的新鲜粪便,雄性蜣螂会立即将其滚成一个个粪球,然后将其滚向尽量远的地方,同时,它们还要帮助雌性做同样的工作。一对对蜣螂将这些粪球埋在地下,为自己将来的孩子们储备食物。 ——新浪科技,《屎克螂利用银河系星光导航直线运动》 第六集:非洲的未来(The Future) David Attenborough与一只幼年犀牛面对面,想知道它的未来前景如何。他会见了在这个历史上的重要时刻选择于这些野生动物站在一起的人们。我们发现了拯救一个物种、抵御一块沙漠、甚至是使一整片野生地区恢复生机需要多少精力——在这其中我们领会到了现代人出现之前世界的样子。 David Attenborough这样总结这部系列: 引用Speaking before the final episode of his nature programme Africa, Sir David Attenborough described how the programme had unearthed things he had no idea existed. “The enormous lake underneath the Kalahari Desert – I had never even heard of it!” he said. The lake, dubbed The Dragon’s Breath Cave, is the world’s largest non-subglacial underground lake and was discovered in 1986. The BBC One series was the first time the cave was filmed. When producers proposed to create a series on Africa, Attenborough had doubts they would find anything new: “The wildlife of that continent is the most filmed in the world, by a very, very long way. I thought, there can’t be any good stories anymore. But I think they did very well.” The veteran TV presenter had also been shocked by the fight between an old bull giraffe and a younger rival : “I had seen giraffes ‘necking’, but I had never seen an event like that, or even known that it went on to that degree.” This moment was his favourite of the show: “That knockout shot of the giraffe by the old male appeals to old males universally,” he laughed. 在领略了这样的野生风光,并见识了人类活动给这些野生动物的生活带来的困难,老人不由自主地发出了“人类是地球上的瘟疫”这样的感叹: 引用The television presenter said that humans are threatening their own existence and that of other species by using up the world’s resources. He said the only way to save the planet from famine and species extinction is to limit human population growth. “We are a plague on the Earth. It’s coming home to roost over the next 50 years or so. It’s not just climate change; it’s sheer space, places to grow food for this enormous horde. Either we limit our population growth or the natural world will do it for us, and the natural world is doing it for us right now,” he told the Radio Times. Sir David, who is a patron of the Population Matters, has spoken out before about the “frightening explosion in human numbers” and the need for investment in sex education and other voluntary means of limiting population in developing countries. “We keep putting on programmes about famine in Ethiopia; that’s what’s happening. Too many people there. They can’t support themselves — and it’s not an inhuman thing to say. It’s the case. Until humanity manages to sort itself out and get a coordinated view about the planet it’s going to get worse and worse.”