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Tibbles proved to be a very efficient specimen collector.
蒂伯斯是一個非常有 能力的標本收集者
So much so, in fact, that one year later,
以至于實際上一年后
when the bird was officially declared a new species,
這鳥被正式宣布為新品種
Mr Lyall had to regretfully inform the scientific community at large
萊奧先生不得不懊悔地告訴科學界
that the species was now extinct. In truth, Tibbles wasn't the only feline to blame,
這個品種現在已滅絕了。事實上，蒂伯斯不是唯一被指責的貓科動物
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
The cats were removed from Stephens Island, but it was too late for the wren.
貓被移出了斯蒂芬島 但對于鷦鷯來說已經太晚了
Now only known from a few cat-chewed museum specimens,
現在只能從被貓咬過的博物館 標本上了解鷦鷯了
evolving to be flightless had proven fatal. So it seems there is a trade-off.
進化成無法飛行被證明是致命的。這似乎是場交換
The freedom of island life allows a species to relax its guard,
島嶼生活的自由讓一個 物種放松了它的警惕
but that can leave it defenceless.
留下的只是毫無防御
On the main islands of New Zealand, similar dramas have played out time and time again.
在新西蘭主島上，類似的劇本周而復始得在上演
Forests dominated by giant kauri trees once covered the North Island.
曾經覆蓋島嶼北部的巨大 南洋杉主宰著森林
The fragments that remain look much like they have for millennia, but looks can be deceiving.
殘存的樹木看上去好像存在了數千年，但表象是可能假的
A few centuries ago, this forest echoed with the calls of strange and wonderful birds.
幾百年前，這里的森林響徹奇異又絕妙的鳥叫
Most famous was the giant moa,
最有名的是大恐鳥
which looked a bit like an ostrich, but taller than an elephant.
看上去有點像駝鳥，但比大象要高
And there are many more birds whose haunting songs now exist here only in memory.
這里更多的縈繞于心的鳥鳴如今只存在記憶中
