美国野牛：数量增加---对手增加

To fans of Western movies, the buffalo stampede is an iconic American image.  Recently, near Yellowstone Park in the U.S. state of Montana, that dramatic picture was supplanted by another image -- hunters huddled over a freshly killed bison. Montana authorities granted limited hunting privileges if bison wander out of Yellowstone National Park, where they are protected under federal law.

Bison once blanketed the Great Plains from Canada to Mexico in such large numbers, early explorers described the country as “one black robe.” The Native Americans were dependent on the bison for their existence. Emil Her Many Horses, a curator of the American Indian Museum in Washington, D.C. “Some people say it [a bison] was like a refrigerator on hooves.”

Indian tribes used all parts of the bison carcass for their food, clothing, shelter, and weapons -- even glue. Mr. Her Many Horses explains the deep connection between Native Americans and the buffalo. “Well, I think there’s always a spiritual connection with the buffalo.  Because the buffalo was the main animal that helped sustain the people, clothe them; it was also used in a main source for the ceremony life also.”

During the 19th century, pioneers and settlers moving through the Great Plains region killed bison herds en masse for sport, and as a strategic maneuver, to clear the country of Indians. The bison population dropped as low as a few hundred in the early 20th century, prompting the U.S. government and nonprofit groups to intervene. Today, the bison population is up to approximately 450,000, and "seed" buffalo to start new herds continuing to be released in some western U.S. states.

Hunting is permitted to keep the bison population down, and limit the bisons’ movements.  Some bison carry disease, and local ranchers fear the disease could be passed on to their cattle. Jay Bodner, of the Montana Stockgrowers Association, says “The ranchers are very disappointed, that one of the few reservoirs that exist of brucellosis in Montana, exist in the Yellowstone bison population in and around Yellowstone National Park.”

Brucellosis is a disease that causes fetuses to abort in cattle. The Nature Conservancy's Karen Foerstel says bison in their care, which does not include the Yellowstone herd, are inoculated against diseases like brucellosis. “We inoculate them [bison]. We check them for diseases. We make sure they’re disease free.”

Ms. Foerstel says bison have always been part of the American landscape. Mr. Bodner feels the number of bison should be limited. “Scientifically, there is no real need for bison to be on the range within Montana. Bison are a 5,000-year-old species and they basically evolved with the prairies and grasslands of North America.”

According to Ms. Foerstel, the bison’s roaming and grazing instincts promote biodiversity in prairie animals and plants. The bison may never again be “one black robe” across the plains. But the sight of the herds is still breathtaking, and some wish that the future of the Great Plains can be more like its past.

对西部电影的影迷而言，野牛狂奔是一个标志性的画面。近来，美国蒙大那州黄石公园附近，这一戏剧性的画面被另一个画面代替：猎手在一头刚被杀的野牛上挤做一团。蒙大那州的当局同意，如果野牛跑出黄石公园的话，人们可以有限制的猎杀，而在公园里面，它们受到联邦法律的保护。

野牛一度以极大的数量覆盖从加拿大到墨西哥的整个平原，以至于早期的探险家称这个国家是“黑袍者”。美国土著人曾经以野牛为生。埃米尔·河·迈尼·豪斯茨华盛顿的一个印第安博物馆馆长说“一些人说它（野牛）就像一台蹄子上的冰箱”。

印第安部落利用野牛身体的各个部分来做他们的食物、衣服、盾、武器，甚至是胶水。·先生解释了美国土著人和野牛之间紧密的联系，“我认为他们和野牛有某种精神上的联系，因为野牛是土著人赖以吃穿的主要的动物；同时，野牛也被用来祭祀。

在十九世纪时，先驱者和移民穿过大平原，为了运动而宰杀野牛，同时为了战略目的，消灭了印第安国家。在二十世纪初，野牛的数量降低到仅仅几百头，使得美国政府和一些非盈利性组织开始干预。今天野牛的数量上升到大约450，000头，而且一些种牛被放养在美国西部。

允许猎杀是为了限制野牛的数量和活动区域。一些野牛携带病毒，所以一些牧场主担心，那些病菌可能传染到他们的牲畜身上。约翰·波德内，蒙大那畜牧协会的负责人说，牧场主非常不满意，“牧场主们非常失望，因为蒙大那州黄石和黄石国家公园附近的野牛群中，很多野牛都感染了普鲁士菌病”。

普鲁士菌病是一种可以导致牲畜胎儿夭折的疾病。自然保护组织的克伦·福斯提尔说，在他们的照顾下的野牛群，不包括黄石野牛群，都已经接种了疫苗，可以对普鲁士菌病之类的疾病免疫。“我们给它们（野牛）接种，检查它们的疾病，保证他们不受病菌侵袭”。

福斯提尔女士说野牛是美国独特风景的一部分。波德内先生则认为野牛的数量应该被限制，“从科学来讲，蒙大那地区不是真的需要野牛。野牛是一个有5000年历史的物种，它们和美国北部的草原和牧场一起进化。”

根据福斯提尔女士所说，野牛迁徙和觅食的本能可以促进大草原上动物和植物的生物多样性。野牛可能永远不会再次成为横跨整个草原的“黑袍者”。但是这个种群的未来仍是惊人的，一些人希望大草原可以重现以前的特色。

此文章由heihei提供，佳禾外语进行整理。　

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