TEDIndia 2009
Romulus Whitaker: The real danger lurking in the water
罗穆卢斯·惠特克:潜在水中的威胁
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长吻鄂和眼镜王蛇是印度最具代表性的两种爬行动物，但它们的生存却受到了水污染的威胁。自然保护主义者罗穆卢斯·惠特克向我们展示了这些珍贵生物的稀有影像，并倡导大家保护河流，来拯救它们和人类自己的生命。
Romulus Whitaker - Herpetologist
Romulus Whitaker is a scientist and conservationist who slings around the globe to study and protect reptiles. Full bio
Romulus Whitaker is a scientist and conservationist who slings around the globe to study and protect reptiles. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:15
I want you to put off your preconceptions,
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我首先希望你们能够
00:18
your preconceived fears and thoughts about reptiles.
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消除对爬行动物的恐惧感，
00:23
Because that is the only way I'm going to get my story across to you.
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因为只有这样我才能把讯息传达给你们。
00:26
And by the way, if I come across as a sort of
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另外，如果你们觉得
00:29
rabid, hippie conservationist,
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我是一个疯狂的嬉皮自然保护主义者，
00:31
it's purely a figment of your imagination.
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那只不过你们自己的幻想罢了。
00:34
(Laughter)
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(观众笑)
00:39
Okay. We are actually the first species on Earth
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事实上，我们是地球上
00:42
to be so prolific to actually threaten our own survival.
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第一个威胁到自己生存的物种。
00:47
And I know we've all seen images enough to make us numb,
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我们看到过很多关于地球生态遭到破坏的图片，
00:50
of the tragedies that we're perpetrating on the planet.
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多到足以使我们麻木。
00:55
We're kind of like greedy kids, using it all up, aren't we?
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我们就像贪婪的孩子，耗尽所有一切，不是吗？
00:57
And today is a time for me to talk to you about water.
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今天我要和大家讲一下水。
01:03
It's not only because we like to drink lots of it,
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这不仅仅是因为我们喜欢喝水，
01:06
and its marvelous derivatives, beer, wine, etc.
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还有那些奇妙的衍生品，比如啤酒，红酒等等；
01:11
And, of course, watch it fall from the sky
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当然我们也喜欢看着它从空中降落，
01:13
and flow in our wonderful rivers,
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在河流中流淌，
01:16
but for several other reasons as well.
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也会有一些其他原因。
01:18
When I was a kid, growing up in New York,
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当我在纽约，还是个孩子的时候，
01:20
I was smitten by snakes, the same way most kids are
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我对蛇十分着迷，
01:22
smitten by tops, marbles, cars, trains, cricket balls.
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就好像很多孩子着迷于陀螺、弹珠、汽车、火车和板球。
01:27
And my mother, brave lady,
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我的母亲，一位很有勇气的女士，
01:29
was partly to blame,
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对此也算负有责任吧。
01:31
taking me to the New York Natural History Museum,
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是她带我去纽约自然历史博物馆，
01:33
buying me books on snakes,
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给我买关于蛇的书，
01:35
and then starting this infamous career of mine,
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使我踏上了这条职业道路，
01:39
which has culminated in
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后来甚至
01:41
of course, arriving in India 60 years ago,
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把我带到印度，那是在60年前，
01:45
brought by my mother, Doris Norden,
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这就是我的母亲，多丽·丝诺登，
01:47
and my stepfather, Rama Chattopadhyaya.
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和继父，拉玛·查托帕迪亚雅。
01:49
It's been a roller coaster ride.
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这是一趟充满刺激的旅程。
01:53
Two animals, two iconic reptiles
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两种标志性的爬行动物
01:55
really captivated me very early on.
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从一开始就深深地吸引了我。
01:58
One of them was the remarkable gharial.
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一个是非比寻常的长吻鄂。
02:01
This crocodile, which grows to almost 20 feet long
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这种生长在北部河流中的鳄鱼
02:03
in the northern rivers,
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可以长到近20英尺长；
02:05
and this charismatic snake, the king cobra.
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另一个是气度非凡的眼镜王蛇。
02:10
What my purpose of the talk today really is,
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我今天的演讲实际上
02:12
is to sort of indelibly scar your minds
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是想要用这些魅力十足而威严的生物
02:15
with these charismatic and majestic creatures.
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在你们的脑海中留下一个永久的印记。
02:18
Because this is what you will take away from here,
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因为这就是我希望你们能从今天的演讲中所得到的，
02:21
a reconnection with nature, I hope.
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一次和自然的亲密接触。
02:26
The king cobra is quite remarkable for several reasons.
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眼镜王蛇的非凡有它的道理。
02:29
What you're seeing here is very recently shot images
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你们现在看到的是最近
02:32
in a forest nearby here,
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在附近森林里拍到的一些影像。
02:34
of a female king cobra making her nest.
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一条雌性眼镜王蛇正在筑巢，
02:36
Here is a limbless animal, capable of gathering a huge mound of leaves,
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没有四肢的动物，居然可以把这么多树叶聚集起来，
02:40
and then laying her eggs inside,
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并在里面产蛋。
02:42
to withstand 5 to 10 [meters of rainfall],
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这个巢能够承受5到10米的降雨量，
02:46
in order that the eggs can incubate over the next 90 days,
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而蛋将在未来90天内孵化，
02:49
and hatch into little baby king cobras.
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最终孵出小眼镜王蛇。
02:51
So, she protects her eggs,
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这条母蛇保护她的蛋，
02:53
and after three months,
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3个月后，
02:56
the babies finally do hatch out.
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小蛇就孵出来了。
02:58
A majority of them will die, of course. There is very high mortality
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它们当中的大部分都会死掉，这是当然的，
03:01
in little baby reptiles who are just 10 to 12 inches long.
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10到12英寸长的小蛇死亡率是很高的。
03:06
My first experience with king cobras was in '72
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我第一次接触眼镜王蛇是在72年，
03:08
at a magical place called Agumbe,
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在一个叫阿古比的神奇地方，
03:11
in Karnataka, this state.
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位于卡纳塔克邦境内。
03:14
And it is a marvelous rain forest.
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这是一片神奇的雨林。
03:17
This first encounter
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这次邂逅
03:19
was kind of like the
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就好像
03:21
Maasai boy who kills the lion to become a warrior.
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马赛传说中男孩杀死狮子成为勇士的故事，
03:25
It really changed my life totally.
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它彻底改变了我的生活，
03:27
And it brought me straight into the conservation fray.
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把我带入了关于自然保护的争论中，
03:30
I ended up starting this research
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我于是开始了这个研究项目，
03:32
and education station in Agumbe,
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并在阿古比建立了教育站，
03:34
which you are all of course invited to visit.
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我很欢迎你们来参观。
03:37
This is basically a base wherein
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基本上这算是一个
03:39
we are trying to gather and learn
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我们用来收集和研究
03:41
virtually everything about the biodiversity
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这片不可思议的森林的
03:43
of this incredibly complex forest system,
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生物多样性的基地。
03:46
and try to hang on to what's there,
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我们努力保持它的原貌，
03:48
make sure the water sources are protected and kept clean,
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确保水源得到保护，
03:51
and of course, having a good time too.
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当然，我们在这里过得很愉快。
03:54
You can almost hear the drums
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你甚至能听到
03:56
throbbing back in that little cottage where we stay when we're there.
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从我们住的小木屋里传出击鼓声。
04:01
It was very important for us to get through to the people.
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和民众建立联系对我们来说很重要，
04:05
And through the children is usually the way to go.
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尤其是和孩子们。
04:08
They are fascinated with snakes. They haven't got
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他们被蛇深深吸引，
04:10
that steely thing that you end up
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并不像成年人那样，
04:13
either fearing or hating or despising or loathing them in some way.
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对蛇不是害怕就是厌恶。
04:17
They are interested.
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他们对蛇很感兴趣，
04:19
And it really works to start with them.
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教育他们很有效果。
04:21
This gives you an idea of the size of some of these snakes.
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这张图能给你一个眼镜王蛇大小的大致概念。
04:23
This is an average size king cobra, about 12 feet long.
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这是一条平常大小的眼镜王蛇，12英尺长，
04:26
And it actually crawled into somebody's bathroom,
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它爬到了某户人家的浴室里，
04:28
and was hanging around there for two or three days.
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在那里呆了两三天。
04:30
The people of this part of India
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这一地区的印度人
04:32
worship the king cobra.
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崇拜眼镜王蛇。
04:34
And they didn't kill it. They called us to catch it.
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他们不杀蛇，而是找到我们去抓住它。
04:36
Now we've caught more than 100 king cobras
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我们在过去3年内
04:38
over the last three years,
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已经抓了100多条眼镜王蛇，
04:40
and relocated them in nearby forests.
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并把它们在附近森林里放生。
04:43
But in order to find out the real secrets of these creatures
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但是为了发掘它们的秘密，
04:46
[it was necessary] for us to actually insert
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我们必须在它们身上
04:49
a small radio transmitter inside [each] snake.
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植入微型无线发射器，
04:52
Now we are able to follow them and find out their secrets,
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这样我们就能够跟踪它们，并发现它们的秘密，
04:56
where the babies go after they hatch,
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比如小蛇孵化之后会去哪里，
04:59
and remarkable things like this you're about to see.
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还有你们即将看到的不可思议的画面。
05:03
This was just a few days ago in Agumbe.
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这是在阿古比，就在几天前。
05:05
I had the pleasure of being close to this large king cobra
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我很高兴能够靠近这条巨大的眼镜王蛇，
05:10
who had caught a venomous pit viper.
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它抓到了一条剧毒的蝮蛇,
05:12
And it does it in such a way that it doesn't get bitten itself.
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身手如此敏捷，自己毫发未伤。
05:15
And king cobras feed only on snakes.
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眼镜王蛇只吃蛇，
05:19
This [little snake] was kind of a tid-bit for it,
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这算是它的点心，
05:21
what we'd call a "vadai" or a donut or something like that.
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就好像是我们的甜甜圈。
05:23
(Laughter)
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（观众笑）
05:26
Usually they eat something a bit larger.
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它们的猎物通常比这个大一些。
05:28
In this case a rather strange and inexplicable
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接下来看到的难以解释场景
05:32
activity happened over the last breeding season,
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发生在去年的繁殖期，
05:35
wherein a large male king cobra actually grabbed a female king cobra,
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一条雄性眼镜王蛇抓住了一条母蛇，
05:39
didn't mate with it, actually killed it and swallowed it.
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但它并没有和母蛇交配，而是吞了它。
05:42
We're still trying to explain and come to terms with
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我们仍然在试图
05:44
what is the evolutionary advantage of this.
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从进化的角度解释这种现象。
05:49
But they do also a lot of other remarkable things.
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它们还有很多其他惊人的行为。
05:52
This is again, something [we were able to see] by virtue of the fact
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这一次，
05:54
that we had a radio transmitter in one of the snakes.
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借助在一条蛇身上植入的无线放射器，
05:57
This male snake, 12 feet long, met another male king cobra.
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我们看到这条12英尺长的公蛇遇到了另一条公蛇，
06:00
And they did this incredible ritual combat dance.
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它们进行了一场难以置信的仪式舞蹈，
06:04
It's very much like the rutting of mammals, including humans,
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就像哺乳动物发情，
06:06
you know, sorting out our differences, but gentler, no biting allowed.
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只是更加温柔，没有撕咬。
06:10
It's just a wresting match,
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这是一场摔跤比赛，
06:12
but a remarkable activity.
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但是与众不同。
06:14
Now, what are we doing with all this information?
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那么，我们用这些信息做什么呢？
06:16
What's the point of all this?
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我们所做的一切是为了什么？
06:18
Well, the king cobra is literally
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眼镜王蛇实际上是
06:20
a keystone species in these rainforests.
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这些森林中最重要的物种。
06:23
And our job is to convince the authorities
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我们的工作是说服权威部门
06:27
that these forests have to be protected.
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来保护这些森林。
06:29
And this is one of the ways we do it,
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我们所采取的一种方式，
06:31
by learning as much as we can
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就是通过
06:33
about something so remarkable and so iconic in the rainforests there,
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学习和研究森林中这些标志性的生物，
06:37
in order to help protect trees, animals
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来保护森林和动物，
06:40
and of course the water sources.
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当然还有水资源。
06:42
You've all heard, perhaps, of Project Tiger
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你们可能听说过“拯救老虎计划”，
06:44
which started back in the early '70s,
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该计划始于70年代，
06:47
which was, in fact, a very dynamic time for conservation.
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在一个保护自然理论非常盛行的时代。
06:51
We were piloted, I could say,
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我们由
06:54
by a highly autocratic stateswoman,
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一位专制的女政客领导，
06:56
but who also had an incredible passion for environment.
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她对自然有着难以置信的热情。
07:00
And this is the time when Project Tiger emerged.
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这就是“拯救老虎计划”浮出水面的时候。
07:03
And, just like Project Tiger,
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和这个计划一样，
07:06
our activities with the king cobra
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针对眼镜王蛇，
07:08
is to look at a species of animal
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我们致力于
07:10
so that we protect its habitat and everything within it.
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保护它们的栖息地和里面所有的一切。
07:13
So, the tiger is the icon.
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老虎是个标志，
07:15
And now the king cobra is a new one.
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现在眼镜王蛇成了新标志。
07:19
All the major rivers in south India
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印度南部的主要河流
07:21
are sourced in the Western Ghats,
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都起源于印度西海岸的
07:23
the chain of hills running along the west coast of India.
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西高止山脉。
07:27
It pours out millions of gallons every hour,
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每小时有上百万加仑的水从山上流下，
07:30
and supplies drinking water to at least 300 million people,
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可以供至少3亿人饮用，
07:34
and washes many, many babies,
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给很多婴儿洗澡，
07:37
and of course feeds many, many animals,
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给很多家养
07:40
both domestic and wild,
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和野生的动物们喝，
07:42
produces thousands of tons of rice.
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用来生产上千吨的大米。
07:44
And what do we do? How do we respond to this?
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而我们做了什么？我们怎么回报的？
07:46
Well, basically, we dam it, we pollute it,
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基本上，我们建造大坝，污染河流，
07:48
we pour in pesticides, weedicides, fungicides.
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倾倒各种杀虫剂和除草剂。
07:51
You drink it in peril of your life.
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你们其实是在冒着生命危险喝水。
07:54
And the thing is, it's not just big industry.
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更重要的是，
07:57
It's not misguided river engineers
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不仅仅是大型工业和被误导了的河流工程师在污染河流，
07:59
who are doing all this; it's us.
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我们也是其中一分子。
08:01
It seems that our citizens find the best way to dispose of garbage
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人们似乎觉得处理垃圾最好的方法
08:05
are in water sources.
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就是往水里丢。
08:07
Okay. Now we're going north, very far north.
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现在我们再来看看北部，
08:10
North central India, the Chambal River
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北部的昌巴尔河，
08:12
is where we have our base.
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我们在那里建有基地。
08:14
This is the home of the gharial, this incredible crocodile.
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也是长吻鄂的家乡。
08:18
It is an animal which has been on the Earth
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长吻鄂在地球上生存已有
08:21
for just about 100 million years.
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1亿多年了。
08:24
It survived even during the time that the dinosaurs died off.
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恐龙灭绝了，它们却存活了下来。
08:28
It has remarkable features.
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它们的身上有很多惊人的地方。
08:30
Even though it grows to 20 feet long,
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尽管它们可以长到20英尺长，
08:32
since it eats only fish it's not dangerous to human beings.
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但由于它们只吃鱼，因而对人类没有威胁。
08:35
It does have big teeth, however,
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它们有巨大的牙齿，
08:37
and it's kind of hard to convince people
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人们似乎很难信服，
08:39
if an animal has big teeth, that it's a harmless creature.
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长有硕大牙齿的动物却是没有威胁的。
08:42
But we, actually, back in the early '70s,
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在70年代的时候，
08:46
did surveys,
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我们做过调查，
08:48
and found that gharial were extremely rare.
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发现长吻鄂已经十分稀有。
08:52
In fact, if you see the map,
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如果你查看地图。
08:54
the range of their original habitat
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它们的原本栖息地
08:56
was all the way from the Indus in Pakistan
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从巴基斯坦境内的印度河
08:59
to the Irrawaddy in Burma.
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一直延伸到缅甸的伊洛瓦底江。
09:01
And now it's just limited to a couple of spots
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而现在只剩下
09:03
in Nepal and India.
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在尼泊尔和印度的几个栖息点。
09:05
So, in fact at this point
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事实上，
09:08
there are only 200 breeding gharial left in the wild.
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目前世界上仅有200多条成年长吻鄂。
09:12
So, starting in the mid-'70s
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在70年代，
09:14
when conservation was at the fore,
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当自然保护运动刚刚兴起的时候，
09:17
we were actually able to start projects which were
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我们得到政府的支持，
09:20
basically government supported
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展开了一个项目，
09:22
to collect eggs from the wild from the few remaining nests
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从野外仅有的几个栖息地收集鳄鱼蛋，
09:25
and release 5,000 baby gharial
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成功孵化了5000条小长吻鄂，
09:27
back to the wild.
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并把它们放归自然。
09:29
And pretty soon we were seeing sights like this.
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没过多久我们就能看到这样的场景了。
09:32
I mean, just incredible to see bunches of gharial
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看到成群的长吻鄂在河边晒日光浴，
09:35
basking on the river again.
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感觉真是太棒了。
09:37
But complacency does have a tendency to breed contempt.
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但自满使我们忽视了很多问题。
09:41
And, sure enough, with all the other pressures on the river,
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河岸边的众多活动，
09:44
like sand mining, for example,
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如采砂作业、大量的耕作
09:47
very, very heavy cultivation all the way down to the river's edge,
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给河流带来很大压力，
09:51
not allowing the animals to breed anymore,
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使得野生动物无法正常繁殖。
09:53
we're looking at
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我们看到
09:56
even more problems building up for the gharial,
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还有更多的问题在威胁长吻鄂，
09:59
despite the early good intentions.
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光有最初的努力是不够的。
10:01
Their nests hatching along the riverside
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成百条小鳄鱼从河边的巢中孵化出来，
10:05
producing hundreds of hatchlings. It's just an amazing sight.
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这场景令人赞叹。
10:08
This was actually just taken last year.
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这张照片是去年拍的。
10:10
But then the monsoon arrives,
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但是，
10:14
and unfortunately downriver there is always a dam or
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下游总是会有水坝或者堰堤，
10:16
there is always a barrage,
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当季风来临，
10:18
and, shoop, they get washed down to their doom.
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它们就被冲向灭亡。
10:22
Luckily there is still a lot of interest.
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幸好大家还是十分热忱。
10:24
My pals in the Crocodile Specialist Group of the IUCN,
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我和那些在鳄鱼自然保护联盟专家小组、
10:27
the [Madras Crocodile Bank], an NGO,
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马德拉斯鳄鱼银行——一个非政府组织、
10:29
the World Wildlife Fund,
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世界野生动物基金会、
10:31
the Wildlife Institute of India, State Forest Departments,
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印度野生动物研究所、国家林业部
10:34
and the Ministry of Environment, we all work together on stuff.
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和环境部的朋友们，一起合作。
10:37
But it's possibly, and definitely not enough.
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但仅仅这样是不够的。
10:41
For example, in the winter of 2007 and 2008,
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举个例子，在2007和2008年冬天，
10:46
there was this incredible die-off of gharial, in the Chambal River.
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昌巴尔河里的长吻鄂惊人地大批死亡，
10:50
Suddenly dozens of gharial appearing on the river, dead.
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突然间河面上出现了很多死鳄鱼。
10:52
Why? How could it happen?
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为什么？发生什么问题了？
10:54
This is a relatively clean river.
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这条河相对干净，
10:56
The Chambal, if you look at it, has clear water.
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水是清的。
10:59
People scoop water out of the Chambal and drink it,
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人们直接从河里舀水喝，
11:01
something you wouldn't do in most north Indian rivers.
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大多数印度北部的河不可能是这样的。
11:04
So, in order to try to find out the answer to this,
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为了找出原因，
11:07
we got veterinarians from all over the world
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我们从世界各地找来兽医，
11:09
working with Indian vets to try to figure out what was happening.
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和印度本地的兽医一起寻找真相。
11:12
I was there for a lot of the necropsies on the riverside.
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我也在河边验尸。
11:16
And we actually looked through
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我们检查它们的内脏，
11:18
all their organs and tried to figure out what was going on.
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试图找出原因。
11:21
And it came down to something called gout,
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最后我们发现祸根是痛风病，
11:24
which, as a result of kidney breakdown
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由于肾功能衰竭，
11:27
is actually uric acid crystals throughout the body,
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体内尿酸结晶，
11:30
and worse in the joints,
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尤其是在关节处，
11:33
which made the gharial unable to swim.
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最终导致长吻鄂不能游泳。
11:36
And it's a horribly painful death.
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死得很痛苦。
11:38
Just downriver from the Chambal is the
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昌巴尔河的下游
11:40
filthy Yamuna river, the sacred Yamuna river.
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是神圣但却肮脏的亚穆纳河。
11:43
And I hate to be so ironic and sarcastic about it
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我不想讽刺什么，
11:47
but it's the truth. It's just one of the filthiest cesspools you can imagine.
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但这是事实。这是你能想象的最脏的河了。
11:50
It flows down through Delhi, Mathura, Agra,
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它流经德里，马图拉和阿格拉，
11:54
and gets just about every bit of effluent you can imagine.
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受到各种污水的污染。
11:57
So, it seemed that the toxin that was killing the gharial
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杀死长吻鄂的毒素
12:01
was something in the food chain,
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似乎来自于食物链，
12:03
something in the fish they were eating.
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来自一种它们猎食的鱼。
12:05
And, you know, once a toxin is in the food chain
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大家都知道，一旦毒素进入食物链，
12:07
everything is affected, including us.
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所有生物都会受到影响，包括我们。
12:10
Because these rivers are the lifeblood of people all along their course.
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这些河流无疑是当地人的生命线。
12:14
In order to try to answer some of these questions,
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为了解答这些疑问，
12:16
we again turn to technology,
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我们再次借助科技，
12:18
to biological technology, in this case,
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这次是生物科技。
12:21
again, telemetry, putting radios on 10 gharial,
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我们在10条长吻鄂装上身上遥测无线电，
12:25
and actually following their movements. They're being watched
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记录它们的行踪。
12:27
everyday as we speak, to try to find out
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我们监视它们来找出
12:29
what this mysterious toxin is.
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这些毒素的真面目。
12:32
The Chambal river is an absolutely incredible place.
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昌巴尔河是个不可思议的地方，
12:36
It's a place that's famous to a lot of you who know
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这个地方很出名，
12:39
about the bandits, the dacoits
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因为曾经有强盗和土匪在这一带出没，
12:42
who used to work up there. And there still are quite a few around.
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直到今天还有一些。
12:45
But Poolan Devi was one [of them]. Which actually Shekhar Kapur
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普兰·黛维就曾是其中一员，
12:48
made an incredible movie, "The Bandit Queen," which I urge you to see.
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她的故事被谢加·卡普尔拍成电影——《土匪女皇》，我强烈建议你们去看一下。
12:51
You'll get to see the incredible [Chambal] landscape as well.
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你们能在电影里看到昌巴尔河极美的风景。
12:54
But, again, heavy fishing pressures.
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但是，渔业使它不堪重负。
12:58
This is one of the last repositories of the
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这里已是
13:01
Ganges river dolphin,
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恒河海豚、
13:03
various species of turtles,
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各种乌龟，
13:05
thousands of migratory birds,
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和无数候鸟最后的家园了，
13:07
and fishing is causing problems like this.
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但是渔业带来了众多问题。
13:10
And now [these] new elements of human intolerance
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人类对长吻鄂这类河流生物的不宽容
13:15
for river creatures like the gharial
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导致了
13:18
means that if they don't drown in the net,
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它们不是被困死在渔网内
13:21
then they simply cut their beaks off.
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就是被砍去嘴巴。
13:23
Animals like the Ganges river dolphin
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恒河海豚
13:25
which is just down to a few left,
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现在所剩无几，
13:27
and it is also critically endangered.
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已经濒临灭绝。
13:29
So, who is next? Us?
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下一个会是谁？我们？
13:31
Because we are all dependent on these water sources.
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人类依赖水资源。
13:34
So, we all know about the Narmada river,
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我们知道纳尔默达河水坝的悲剧，
13:36
the tragedies of dams, the tragedies of huge projects
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人类工程项目的悲剧
13:39
which displace people and wreck river systems
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导致了河流生态系统的严重破坏，
13:42
without providing livelihoods.
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再也不能滋养生命。
13:44
And development just basically going berserk,
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人类发展已近疯狂，
13:47
for a double figure growth index, basically.
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增长指数成了两位数。
13:50
So, we're not sure where this story is going to end,
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但我们不知道最终会走向哪里，
13:55
whether it's got a happy or sad ending.
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是喜是悲。
13:57
And climate change is certainly going
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气候剧变显然会
13:59
to turn all of our theories and predictions on their heads.
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颠覆我们的理论和预测。
14:02
We're still working hard at it.
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我们仍在努力工作，
14:04
We've got a lot of a good team of people working up there.
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我们有很多很好的团队在为此努力。
14:07
And the thing is, you know, the decision makers,
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但是，那些决策者，
14:10
the folks in power,
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有权力的人，
14:12
they're up in their bungalows and so on in Delhi,
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他们呆在德里的别墅里，
14:14
in the city capitals. They are all supplied with plenty of water. It's cool.
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不用愁没水喝，生活很棒。
14:17
But out on the rivers there are still millions of people
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但是在外头有数百万人
14:20
who are in really bad shape.
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身陷困境。
14:23
And it's a bleak future for them.
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他们的未来是惨淡的。
14:25
So, we have our Ganges and Yamuna cleanup project.
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所以我们要清理恒河与亚穆纳河。
14:28
We've spent hundreds of millions of dollars on it,
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我们在这个项目上花费了上亿的经费，
14:30
and nothing to show for it. Incredible.
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但却效果甚微，真不敢相信。
14:33
So, people talk about political will.
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于是大家想到了政治因素。
14:36
During the die-off of the gharial we did galvanize a lot of action.
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在长吻鄂大批死亡期间，我们采取了很多行动。
14:39
Government cut through all the red tape,
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政府削减所有的繁文缛节，
14:41
we got foreign vets on it. It was great.
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请来了国外兽医。这很重要，
14:43
So, we can do it.
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这样我们才能够成功。
14:45
But if you stroll down to the Yamuna
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但你若是沿着亚穆纳河，
14:47
or to the Gomati in Lucknow,
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一直走到勒克瑙的戈马蒂，
14:49
or to the Adyar river in Chennai,
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或者到钦奈的阿达亚河，
14:52
or the Mula-Mutha river in Pune,
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或者是浦那的木拉穆塔河，
14:55
just see what we're capable of doing to a river. It's sad.
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去看看我们能够为这条河所作的，真的是少得可怜。
14:59
But I think the final note really is
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不过我还是坚信
15:02
that we can do it.
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我们终会成功。
15:05
The corporates, the artists, the wildlife nuts,
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企业，艺术家，野生动物迷，
15:08
the good old everyday folks
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和民众，
15:10
can actually bring these rivers back.
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可以把河流带回原来的样子。
15:13
And the final word is
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我最后想说的是，
15:15
that there is a king cobra looking over our shoulders.
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这里有一条眼镜王蛇
15:19
And there is a gharial looking at us from the river.
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和一条长吻鄂在看着我们，
15:22
And these are powerful water totems.
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它们是强大的图腾，
15:24
And they are going to disturb our dreams until we do the right thing.
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它们将一直骚扰我们，除非我们善待它们。
15:28
Namaste.
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谢谢。
15:30
(Applause)
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（观众鼓掌）
15:36
Chris Anderson: Thanks, Rom. Thanks a lot.
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克里斯·安德森：谢谢罗穆，十分感谢。
15:39
You know, most people are terrified of snakes.
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很多人害怕蛇，
15:42
And there might be quite a few people here who would be
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甚至可能有人会希望
15:44
very glad to see the last king cobra bite the dust.
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看到眼镜王蛇灭绝。
15:47
Do you have those conversations with people?
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你有没有与这样的人交谈过？
15:50
How do you really get them to care?
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你是怎样让他们转变的？
15:52
Romulus Whitaker: I take the sort of humble approach,
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罗穆卢斯·惠特克:我采取一种谦虚的态度。
15:57
I guess you could say. I don't say that snakes are huggable exactly.
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我不会说蛇是可爱的动物，
16:01
It's not like the teddy bear.
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他们不是泰迪熊。
16:04
But I sort of -- there is an innocence in these animals.
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但是，它们身上也有一种纯真。
16:08
And when the average person looks at a cobra
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当人们看到眼镜王蛇发出“嘶嘶”声时，
16:10
going "Ssssss!" like that, they say, "My god,
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他们会说，“哦天呐，
16:12
look at that angry, dangerous creature."
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看那个危险的家伙。”
16:14
I look at it as a creature who is totally frightened
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但在我看来，
16:17
of something so dangerous as a human being.
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它们不过是被人类吓到了。
16:20
And that is the truth. And that's what I try to get out.
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这是事实。也是我想告诉大家的。
16:23
(Applause)
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（观众鼓掌）
16:27
CA: Now, incredible footage you showed of the viper being killed.
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安德森：那么，关于那个毒蛇被吃掉的视频，
16:29
You were saying that that hasn't been filmed before.
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你说以前从拍摄到过这样的场景。
16:32
RW: Yes, this is actually the first time anyone of us knew about it, for one thing.
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惠特克：是的，这是第一次人们知道这样的事。
16:35
As I said, it's just like a little snack for him, you know?
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就像我说过的，毒蛇不过是它的点心。
16:38
Usually they eat larger snakes like rat snakes,
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通常它们吃更大的蛇，比如食鼠蛇，
16:40
or even cobras.
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甚至是眼镜蛇。
16:42
But this guy who we're following right now is in the deep jungle.
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但是我们追踪的这家伙现在正在丛林深处，
16:45
Whereas other king cobras
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而其他眼镜王蛇
16:47
very often come into the human interface,
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经常出没在人类聚居地，
16:49
you know, the plantations, to find big rat snakes and stuff.
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它们可以在农场里找到大的食鼠蛇。
16:52
This guy specializes in pit vipers.
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这家伙专吃蝮蛇，
16:55
And the guy who is working there with them,
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一位来自马哈拉施特拉的，专门研究眼镜王蛇的同事说：
16:57
he's from Maharashtra, he said, "I think he's after the nusha."
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“它一定是追求‘纳莎’。”
17:00
(Laughter)
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（观众笑）
17:02
Now, the nusha means the high.
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“纳莎”就是亢奋的意思
17:04
Whenever he eats the pit viper he gets this little venom rush.
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每当它捕食蝮蛇的时候，它就过一把蛇毒瘾。
17:07
(Laughter)
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（观众笑）
17:09
CA: Thanks Rom. Thank you.
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安德森:谢谢你。
17:11
(Applause)
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（观众鼓掌）
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Romulus Whitaker - HerpetologistRomulus Whitaker is a scientist and conservationist who slings around the globe to study and protect reptiles.
Why you should listen
Romulus Whitaker's boyhood fascination with the snakes near his home in Bombay has developed into a career of getting up close with some of the world's most venomous creatures. In 1972, Whitaker founded India's first snake park, in Madras, with support from the World Wildlife Fund. Later he founded the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust Centre for Herpetology to re-establish three species of crocodiles that were nearing extinction. The bank now houses 3,000 crocodiles of 15 species. Currently, Whitaker is focusing on the Gharial crocodile, whose species has less than 250 members left in Indian waters.
At age 65, he shows no sign of slowing down. “The Dragon Chronicles,” filmed in 2008 for PBS's series Nature, shows Whitaker cave-diving in ice-cold water for Slovenian olms, climbing trees in pursuit of flying lizards in the Western Ghats, and Komodo dragon-wrestling in Indonesia. Awarded the 2005 Whitley prize, Whitaker used the £30,000 purse to start the Agumbe Rainforest Research Station, the first to be built along the whole 1,000km length of the Western Ghats. He uses the research station to study king cobras in their natural habitat.
Romulus Whitaker | Speaker | TED.com