研究人员庆祝保护珍稀巴西猴子40周年 Researcher Celebrates 40 Years of Protecting Rare Brazilian Monkeys
Karen Strier is an American primatologist. It has been 40 years since she started studying Muriqui monkeys in Brazil. At the start, she was working on an advanced degree in anthropology at Harvard University. She continues to study the animals today.
卡伦·斯特里尔是一位美国灵长类动物学家。40年前，她开始在巴西研究穆里基猴(毛蜘蛛猴)。开始时，她在哈佛大学攻读人类学的高级学位。至今，她仍在研究这些动物。
Muriquis are the largest monkeys in the Americas. Strier first started studying them in 1983 in Brazil's southeastern Minas Gerais state. At the time, there were only about 50 of them in a large land area 200 kilometers from the Atlantic Ocean.
穆里基猴是美洲最大的猴子。1983年，斯特里尔开始在巴西东南部的米纳斯吉拉斯州研究它们。当时，在距离大西洋200公里的大片陆地上，只有大约50只这种猴子。
The monkeys were losing their habitat, or living place, high up in the trees. Humans were cutting down the trees so they could sell their fruit and wood. As a result, the monkeys could only be found in a small area of preserved forest.
由于森林被砍伐以出售果实和木材，这些猴子失去了它们的栖息地，即高处的树木。因此，这些猴子只能在一小片保护区的森林中找到。
In the 1980s, many researchers centered their studies on monkeys and other primates such as gorillas in Africa and Asia. Dian Fossey and Jane Goodall were known for their studies of mountain gorillas and chimpanzees at the time.
在20世纪80年代，许多研究人员将他们的研究集中在猴子和其他灵长类动物身上，比如非洲和亚洲的大猩猩。戴安·福斯特和简·古道尔当时以对山地大猩猩和黑猩猩的研究而闻名。
Those women said the animals lived in a male-dominated society. Fighting was common. One male gorilla would fight another to keep control over the group or take a leadership position. Males who lost the fights would be sent away from the group.
这些女性表示，这些动物生活在雄性主导的社会中，战斗很常见。一只雄性大猩猩会为了控制群体或取得领导地位而与另一只大猩猩争斗。打架失败的雄性会被赶出群体。
But in Brazil, the Muriquis seemed peaceful. Strier said the male and female monkeys were the same size –about 2 meters long and around 15 kilograms. Males lived close to each other and did not fight.
但在巴西，穆里基猴似乎可以和平相处。斯特里尔说，雄性和雌性猴子的体型相同，大约2米长，约15公斤重。雄性住得离彼此很近，不打架。
The monkeys were friendly with others in the group. In some cases, the females left their living groups in search of a mate.
这些猴子对群体中的其他猴子很友好。在某些情况下，雌性离开它们的生活群体去寻找配偶。
"I love them. They're beautiful animals," Strier said.
“我爱它们，它们是美丽的动物。”斯特里尔说。
Strier said the Muriquis showed researchers that not all primates lived the same way. "I think (they) helped open that door to understanding better some of this diversity," she said.
斯特里尔说，穆里基猴向研究人员们展示了不同灵长类动物的生活方式并不相同。“我认为(它们)帮助打开了一扇门，让我们更好地了解这种多样性。”她说。
She does her research in the 950-hectare Feliciano Miguel Abdala reserve. The area is about 500 kilometers north of Rio de Janeiro. In the time she has followed the monkeys, their population has grown to over 230. The females can only have babies once every three years, so growth is slow.
她在950公顷的Feliciano Miguel Abdala保护区进行研究。该地区位于里约热内卢以北约500公里处。在她跟踪这些猴子的时间里，它们的数量已经增长到230多只。雌猴每三年才生一次孩子，所以增长速度很慢。
Russell Mittermeier is a primatologist with the environmental group Re:wild. He is who first introduced Strier to the monkeys. He said not many studies last for 40 years and are of such high quality.
拉塞尔·米特梅尔是环保组织Re:wild的灵长类动物学家。他是第一个介绍斯特里尔认识这些猴子的人。他说，持续40年的高质量研究并不多见。
Strier is now working to create protected areas in southeastern Brazil where the monkeys can get around safely. That means making sure sections of forest are preserved.
斯特里尔现在正致力于在巴西东南部建立保护区，让这些猴子能够安全地活动。这意味着要确保部分森林得到保护。
She wants this to happen so the population can grow larger and so the monkeys do not disappear if there is a sickness. Several years ago, she said, an outbreak of yellow fever killed about 100 monkeys over a period of five years.
她希望这样做可以让猴群规模变得更大，以防止猴群因疾病而消失。她说，几年前，一场黄热病的爆发在五年内导致大约100只猴子死亡。
Researchers are also looking for ways to encourage mating among the monkeys. In 2020, a relocation program moved some females into a protected area where there were only two males. The effort paid off. A baby was born. Once there are 12 monkeys in the family group, they will be released into the wild.
研究人员也在寻找鼓励猴子交配的方法。2020年，一项重新安置计划将一些雌性转移到一个只有两只雄性的保护区。努力得到了回报。一只小猴子出生了。一旦家族群体中有12只猴子，它们就被放归到野外。
At a recent celebration of her work, Strier told the story of losing so many monkeys to yellow fever. She said the once noisy forest became quiet in a short time because so many monkeys died.
在最近的一次庆祝活动中，斯特里尔讲述了她因黄热病而失去这么多猴子的故事。她说，曾经喧闹的森林在很短的时间内变得安静，因为很多猴子死了。
Strier told the gathering of primatologists, environmentalists and monkey-lovers that she is always worried her life's work could be wiped out by another sickness. She called the monkeys "fragile," and added, "We're not done."
斯特里尔告诉聚集在一起的灵长类动物学家、环保主义者和猴子爱好者，她一直担心她一生的工作可能会被另一种疾病所摧毁。她称这些猴子“很脆弱”，并补充说，“我们还没有完成。”
I'm Dan Friedell.
丹·弗里德尔报道。
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Words in This Story
preserved –adj. kept safe from destruction
primatologist–n. a scientist who studies primates, such as monkeys, apes and chimpanzees
dominate – v. to control or lead using force
diversity – adj. characteristics or qualities that are different
reserve– n. an area protected by law from development or destruction
encourage –v. to make a situation right for something to happen
fragile –adj. not strong, easily hurt or damaged
