奇妙島嶼 17

Fortunately for the Stephens Island tuatara,
斯蒂芬島嶼上的大蜥蜴是幸運的
it did survive a brief mammal invasion.
它成功地在哺乳動物入侵中存活下來
But for some of the other wildlife here,
但是對這兒其它的野生動物而言
the invasion was rather more catastrophic.
這場入侵就更是一場災難
The island had been uninhabited and largely ignored ,
這座島嶼原本無人居住且為世人所遺忘
but that all changed with the construction
但是1894年一座燈塔的建成
of this lighthouse back in 1894.
改變了這一切
when the newly installed keeper,a Mr Lyall,
該燈塔的新任看守者萊爾先生
found an unusual wren on the island,
發現了這座島嶼上有一種特殊的鷦鷯
he sent a specimen to London for identification.
於是他寄了一份標本到倫敦請專家鑑定
Like many island birds,
就如同所有生活在島上的鳥兒一樣
it was flightless.
鷦鷯不會飛行
And perhaps that's why it wasn't Mr Lyall
也許這就是為什麼並非是這位萊爾先生
who first discovered the bird,
第一個發現這種鳥兒的
but his four-legged companion.
而是他那用四條腿行走的伙伴
Tibbles proved to be a very efficient specimen collector.
事實證明萊爾先生的伙伴泰伯斯是一高效標本收集者
So much so,
它捕捉的獵物太多了
in fact, that one year later,
以至於一年後
when the bird was officially declared a new species,
當這種鳥兒被官方認定為一種新品種時
Mr Lyall had to regretfully inform the scientific community at large that
萊爾先生只能遺憾地報告科學界
the species was now extinct.
這種鳥兒已經滅絕了
In truth,
事實上
Tibbles wasn 't the only feline to blame,
泰伯斯不是第一隻因此而被指責的貓
but the ease with which the Stephens Island wren had been dispatched was alarming.
但是斯蒂芬島鷦鷯的迅速消亡給人們敲響了警鐘