Can the big cats survive the human assault?

Can the big cats survive the human assault?

虎年，如何用英语聊聊老虎?

It is admired, respected, feared and hated in equal measure depending on where you live and what your livelihood is. It also inspires, has an aura of its own, is the subject of myths and legends, and symbolizes strength and power. It is even depicted as a vessel of powerful deities and worshipped. It has adorned the emblems of kings and emperors. Indeed, it is a royal beast.

一说到虎，人们对它又敬又畏，又惧又恨。具体是哪种情感，则取决于你生活的地方以及你的生计。虎也能鼓舞人心，自带光环，它是神话传说的主角，象征着力量与权力。它甚至被描绘成强大神祇的化身，受人们崇拜。它是皇室徽章上的装饰，它的确是一只皇家猛兽。

It is known for its adaptability, for it has survived, and once thrived, in terrains as different as the hot and humid, almost non-navigable mangroves of the Gangetic Delta called the Sunderbans in India and Bangladesh, the tropical and subtropical forests, moist evergreen forests and tropical dry forests in India, the temperate forests up to an altitude of 4, 000 meters in Bhutan, and the freezing temperate mixed forests in Russia, Northeast China and the Korean Peninsula.

虎凭借其极强的适应能力而闻名于世，再复杂多变的土地上都有它们的身影。无论是印 度和孟加拉国的桑德班斯恒河三角洲那炎热潮湿、几乎不能通航的红树林，印度的热带 和亚热带森林、湿润常绿林和热带旱生林，不丹海拔4000米的温带林，还是俄罗斯、中 国东北部和朝鲜半岛的寒温带混交林，都有老虎出没，而且它们曾经还数量繁多。

Yet the big cat is in danger, in danger of extinction, because the very people who admire and respect it also love and hate it. They hate it because they believe it is encroaching upon their land, instead of the other way round, and attacks and kills their cattle, even fellow folk. They love it, because they can hunt it and earn precious money by selling its skin, bones, teeth, organs and other parts.

然而，老虎这一大型猫科动物正处于濒临灭绝的危险之中，因为那些欣赏和尊重它的人也正是喜欢和憎恨它的人。他们憎恨老虎，因为他们认为老虎在侵占他们的土地(而不是反过来)，攻击杀害他们的牲畜，甚至杀害人类。同时他们喜爱老虎，因为他们可以杀掉老虎，然后贩卖虎皮、虎骨、虎牙以及其他器官和身体部位，赚取大量的钱财。

So since this year is " Year of the Tiger" , it's an opportune moment to consider the plight of the big cats, and real action to provide them and their habitats with foolproof protection.

因此，赶上今年是农历“虎年”，现在是时候好好考虑一下老虎面临的困境了，并考虑应该采取什么样的实际行动来为它们和它们的栖息地提供安全可靠的保护。

The tiger no longer burns bright in " the forests of the night" , as William Blake conceived it in his eponymous poem The Tyger. It no longer seems that an " immortal hand or eye" framed its " fearful symmetry" . Rather it appears " he who made the Lamb" favored such innocent, cuddly creatures to survive the wrath of humans despite falling under their knives in millions each year, not the one that sits atop the food chain.

今天的老虎，不再像威廉·布莱克(William Blake)在他的同名诗《虎》中所想象的那样，是在“黑夜的森林”中燃烧着的煌煌的火光。它似乎也不再是“神手或天眼”造就的那般“威武堂堂”。相反，比起位于食物链顶端的老虎，那“创造羔羊的人”--上帝，似乎更偏爱无辜、可爱的羔羊，希望它们能够在人类的愤怒之中存活下来，尽管每年有数百万的羔羊倒在人类的刀下。