Covid-19 Has Emboldened Italy’s Fauna

新冠肺炎让意大利的动物们变得大胆起来

 

A pilfering bear named after a convict isn’t welcome, though

不过，一头以罪犯名字命名的、爱盗窃的熊并不受人们的欢迎

 

A wolf slinks out of a park in Sesto Fiorentino, an industrial centre near Florence. Goslings waddle behind their mothers along deserted thoroughfares in Treviso. Fallow deer invade a golf course on Sardinia and take a dip in the clubhouse swimming pool.

 

在佛罗伦萨附近塞斯托·佛罗伦蒂诺工业园的一个公园里，一只狼偷偷地溜了出来。在特雷维索，一群小鹅跟在鹅妈妈身后，大摇大摆地在无人的大街上漫步。在撒丁岛的一个高尔夫球场里，悠闲的小鹿闯了进来，还在俱乐部的游泳池里游起了泳。

 

As Italians entered the sixth week of Europe’s longest covid-19 lockdown on April 13th, one thing they had to cheer them up was the sight of animals in spaces that humankind had temporarily abandoned.

 

意大利是欧洲因新冠肺炎采取封城措施时间最久的国家，当意大利人于4月13日进入封城的第6周时，有一件事让他们感到振奋，那就是在暂时无人出没的城市角落看到了动物的身影。

 

At Cagliari on Sardinia, bottlenose dolphins have long been known to wait at the mouth of the port to play in the wake of departing motor vessels. But since the lockdown some have entered right into the port, where they have been filmed swimming up and down under a quay, looking at the humans above.

 

在撒丁岛的卡利亚里，人们早就发现，宽吻海豚会在港口的入口处等待游艇驶离，然后它们便会追着游艇的尾流玩耍。但自从封城以来，一些海豚直接进入了港口里面，人们发现它们在码头那里上下游动，望着岸上的人们。

 

A similar phenomenon has been observed at Trieste. “A non-scientist might speculate that the dolphins are thinking: ‘Why aren’t you moving around in your boats any longer?’” says Giuseppe Bogliani, formerly a University of Pavia professor.

 

同样地，人们在里雅斯特也观察到了类似的现象。帕维亚大学的前教授朱塞佩·博格利亚尼说：“普通人可能会推断，海豚是不是在想：‘为什么你不再开着游艇出来活动了’”。

 

Mr Bogliani cautions against assuming that nature is reclaiming its own. Some mammals, like foxes, may have been in the cities already, prowling undetected at night.

 

博格利亚尼提醒人们，不要想当然地认为大自然正在收回自己的土地。一些哺乳动物（比如狐狸）可能早就在城市里出没了，只不过它们是在夜间活动，因而未被人们所发现。

 

A golden eagle spotted gliding above a main road in Milan posed a different question: “Is it there because of the lockdown, or did we just see it because of the lockdown?”

 

一只金雕在米兰街头盘旋，从而引出了一个不一样的问题：“是因为封城它才来到这里的，还是因为封城才让我们注意到了它的存在？”

 

Not all reappearances have been welcomed. Residents in Alpine areas of the province of Trento have been advised not only to stay at home, but to refrain from leaving out rubbish that might attract Italy’s most wanted animal, a brown bear known to scientists as M49 and to the public as “Papillon” (because of his escape last year over three electrified fences).

 

并非所有出没的动物都受到了人们的欢迎。特伦托省阿尔卑斯山区的居民收到了建议，不仅要待在家中，而且还要把垃圾留在家里，因为垃圾可能会引来意大利的头号通缉动物——一头被科学家称为M49、被民众称为“巴比龙”（因为它在去年越过三道电网，成功地逃脱了）的棕熊。

 

Papillon is nicknamed after Henri Charrière, the only man to escape from the French penal colony on Devil’s Island. Like the late Mr Charrière, the bear has a substantial criminal record. It includes breaking and entering (Alpine cottages and refuges) and attacks on cattle.

 

巴比龙这个绰号源自亨利·查理尔，他是唯一一位从法国流放地恶魔岛逃脱的人。同已故的查理尔一样，这头棕熊也有大量的犯罪记录（包括闯入阿尔卑斯山区的农舍和避难所，以及袭击牛群等）。

 

Last year the government of Trento issued an order for Papillon’s capture. He has now been spotted heading for Veneto, which has not (yet) issued a warrant. Smart bear.

 

去年，特伦托政府对“巴比龙”发布了逮捕令。但人们发现它已经去了威尼托，而威尼托政府尚未对其发布逮捕令。真是一头聪明的熊！

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