Killer on Wings Is Under Threat

飛翔的殺手正受到威脅

Could anything be more majestic, serene or threatening than the largest bird of prey in the world, the harpy eagle, soaring above its domain? Weighing nine kilograms and with a 2.2-metre wingspan, this giant of the .sky glides at 65 kilometres per hour over dense Brazilian rainforest. Its cruel head with flaring coloured crest and huge hooked beak twists constantly from side to side.

有什么比世界上最大的食肉猛禽熱帶大雕在它的領地上方搏擊長空更加壯麗，更加安詳，又更具威脅性呢？體重九公斤，翼幅達2.2米的空中巨物在茂密的巴西雨林上空以每小時65公里的速度滑翔。它那長著展開的有色肉冠和巨大鉤狀鷹嘴的殘暴的腦袋木斷地向兩邊扭來扭去。

It spots a monkey in a treetop 2.5 kilometres away and zeroes in on its prey. The monkey munches on, oblirious to the threat. Then the eagle strikes,plucking its prey from its perch with talons bome on legs the thickness of your wrists. The monkey dies instantly, pierced by the talons. The eagle carries the body back to its treetop lair. The famed and feared harpy eagle has killed again.

它發現了2.5公里之外樹梢上的一只猴子，就立即把注意力集中在這只獵物身上。猴子全然不知威脅的存在，仍在津津有味地咀嚼著。大雕發起了進攻，用它的利爪將獵物從樹枝上一把抓了起來，那利爪長在與人的手腕一般粗的腿上。被利爪刺穿了的猴子剎時間一命嗚呼。大雕將其尸體帶回樹梢上的窩里。鼎鼎大名、令人生畏的熱帶大雕又殺生了。

Whether this frightening creature does indeed soar like other eagles in search of prey is open to conjecture . Forless is known about the harpy than any other eagle-the remoteness of its habitat sees to that. But it has been seen carrying monkeys, sloth and even small deer back to its nest.

這嚇人的熱帶大雕捕食時是否真的和其他鷹類一樣翱翔還沒有定論，尚待猜測。人們對大雕的了解比對其他鷹類的了解都少——這是因為它的棲息地十分遙遠而造成的，但確實見過它將猴子、樹獺甚至小鹿帶回巢中。

This eagle's extraordinary eyesight is one of its greatest assets. Like many other eagles, it can see between four and eight times as much detail as canhumans. The result is an ability to see clearly a smaU monkey at a distance of up to 2.5 kilometres and to judge distances with pinpoint accuracy . The latter is an obvious requirement if prey is to be snatched at speed.

大雕非凡的視力是其最大的優勢之一。和許多其他鷹類一樣，它看清細節的能力比人類要強四至八倍。這樣它就能夠看清兩點五公里以外的一只小猴子，并能極精確地判定距離，若想快速抓獲獵物，準確判斷距離很明顯是必需的。

It's hard to believe that a creature so well equipped to survive could- ever find itself under threat. But with huge tracts of rainforest being felled in Centraland South America, the harpy's food sources are harder to find.

令人難以置信的是生存條件如此優越的生物竟然也會處于威脅之中，但隨著中、南美洲大片熱帶雨林的被砍伐，大雕的食物來源更為困難。

The threat posed could soon be similar to that facing the harpy's near relative, the Philippines monkey-eating eagle. This acutely threatened bird was reduced in numbers to fewer than 100 in the wild by the loss of its forest habitat and by the heavy demands of trophy hunters in the Philippines.

不久，這種威脅就會和熱帶大雕的近親——菲律賓食猴鷹所面臨的威脅相似了。由于森林棲息地的喪失和菲律賓獵手的大量捕殺，這種受到嚴重威脅的鳥類的野外數量已減少到不足100只。

Like its Filipino cousm, the harpy eagle nests in the tops of the largest forest trees. It therefore needs an intact forest to breed. The seemingly invinable harpy is vulnerable for another reason. A mating pair is thought to produce only one eaglet every two years. Harpy eggs take up to 60 days to hatch and chicks take a further 60 days before they learn to fly. What is more, the youngster is fed by the parents for many months after it has learned to fly. Annual breeding then is impossible.

和它的菲律賓同伴一樣，熱帶大雕把巢筑在最大的樹頂上。因此，它的繁殖需要一個保持完好的森林環境。似乎不可戰勝的熱帶大雕易受傷害還有一個原因。據信，一對交配的大雕每兩年才能生下一個雛雕。雕蛋的孵化需要60天，雛雕學飛之前還需60天。而且，雛雕學會飛行之后還需父母喂養多月。因而，大雕不可能每年繁殖。

Folklore has long held that the harpy eagle preys on human babies as well as forest animals. To the ancient Mayans of CentralAmerica the bird was Moan,a bird of ill omen and death. The harpy from which the eagle derives its name was a mythical wreaker of vengeance. Yet there is no evidence, according to British naturalist Leslie Brown, that children have ever been taken by the harpy.

民間傳說里，一直認為熱帶大雕既捕食森林動物，也捕食嬰兒。對中美洲的古代瑪雅人來說，熱帶大雕就是Moan，一種帶來不祥和死亡的鳥。鷹的名字來自哈比( Harpy)，神話中的一個復仇者。然而，按照英國博物學家萊斯利·布朗的說法，還沒有證據表明大雕曾經掠走過小孩。

But the Anglia Television Company fflm crew from England that compiled a television documentary titled Fury of the Forest can vouch for the harpy's ferociousness when its nest is threatened. One camera team was attacked when filming a pair of harpys mating and nesting.

但制作電視紀錄片《森林的憤怒》的英國英吉利電視公司的拍攝人員可以證明：熱帶大雕，在它的巢穴受到威脅時，是無比兇暴的。一個攝制組在拍攝一對大雕交配和筑巢時受到了它們的襲擊。

The harpy eagle does not face the same immediate threat as its Filipino cousin. But if the destruction of its forest habitat continues at its present rate, the largest of avian predators, too, could join those birds already on the endangered species list. Leslie Brown wrote in 1976 that nearly half of the 59 species of eagle were under threat. Those who appreciate nature will be hoping that the harpy can surmount this threat, to soar on over the forests of South America.

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