野猪被驯服 变身宠物

'Ferocious' boars who roam the Forest of Dean transformed into lovable piggies who will eat out of tourists' hands 出没在迪恩森林凶猛的野猪变化成了会啃游客手指头的可爱的小猪。

As wild boar go, this lot don’t seem very wild at all.

随着野生野猪逐渐消失，这种动物看起来已经没有太多野生的习性了。

Hundreds now live in the Forest of Dean, where several are happy to take food from visitors’ hands and even accept a stroke on the snout.

成千上万的野猪现在都居住在迪恩森林里，它们中的许多都喜欢从游客手中获取食物，并乐于享受被轻轻抚摸脸。

Rangers at the Gloucestershire beauty spot warn that animal lovers should beware because boar can be aggressive and cause serious injury.

格洛斯特郡的风景名胜区的流浪者提醒喜欢动物的人们要小心一点，因为野猪是有攻击性的，会对人们造成很大的伤害。

But David Slater, who took these photographs, insists that the creatures pose no threat.

但是，拍下这些照片的David Slater坚持认为这些生物是不会对人造成威胁的。

‘There have been no attacks on humans in the UK to date, and this year not even a dog has been reported injured by boar,’ he said.

他说：“到目前为止，在英国还没有出现过人类被袭击的情况，今年就连一只狗被野猪袭击受伤的事件都没有报道发生过。”

‘Compare this with how many people are injured by or fear dogs, and fear of wild boar is completely out of proportion.’

有多少人恐惧或者被狗袭击受伤的和害怕野猪的人相比较是完全不成比例的。

The boar community has flourished in the forest after up to 350 escaped from a farm a decade ago and others were illegally dumped by the side of a road.

10年前高达350头野猪从一个农场里逃出来，其它的野猪被遗弃在公路旁后，森林里的野猪数量就开始在不断繁荣增长。

Experts say all the surviving animals and their descendants are now wild, and to avoid the population doubling every year the animals are subject to a carefully managed cull.

专家说所有幸存的动物以及它们繁殖的后代都是野生的，为了避免它们的数量每年双倍的增加，这些动物都会被细致的管理控制宰杀。

Another visitor said: ‘Some of the tamer ones seem unconcerned by humans approaching them, and seem as curious about us as we are about them. I have seen people feeding them by hand, and they seem to like the attention.

另一个游客说：“有些被驯服的动物完全不介意人类靠近它们，就像我们对他们一样的对人类表示好奇。我看到过人们用手喂食这些动物，它们看起来很喜欢这种照料。

‘They look as comfortable as pets, probably because lots were raised on farms and got used to people. However, you never know what could happen with an animal this size.’

它们看起来就像宠物一样舒服，这大概是因为它们许多都是在农场养大的，习惯了人类。然而，丹尼绝不会知道这些动物会发生什么。”

The forest’s chief wildlife ranger Ian Harvey, says staying well clear of them will reduce the chance of wild boar losing their natural instinct for caution around people.

森林的野生动物主管Ian Harvey说：“保持清醒的了解这些动物会降低野猪对人类小心谨慎的自然本能的风险。”

Mr Slater admits boar can be aggressive to protect their young, just like cows or deer, but claims the cull is going too far with even suckling mothers and piglets being shot.

Slater先生承认就像牛或者鹿一样，野猪在保护它们的幼崽的时候是会有攻击性的。但他声称，这还没有到达屠杀正在哺乳的母猪和幼崽。

However Mt Harvey responded: ‘We are not aiming to eradicate wild boar in the Forest of Dean. Our management objective is to reduce the potential for adverse interaction between the boar and people it is not to eradicate the boar.’

但是Mt Harvey回应说：“我们并没有打算消灭掉迪恩森林里的野猪。我们的管理目标是减少野猪和人类的不良互动的潜在风险，而不是要屠杀它们。”

Mr Slater claims that on one occasion he ‘befriended’ a female boar which was giving birth, and allowed him to stay and photograph her.

Mr Slater声称，曾经有一次他和一头雌性野猪结成了朋友，它愿意允许他留下来拍照。

He said her behaviour and acceptance of him proves the boars do not need to be feared because they are not a threat to well-meaning people.

他说这头母猪的行为和对他的接受也证实了我们不需要害怕野猪，因为他们对饱含好意的人类是没有任何威胁的。

He said: ‘While I was with this suckling female I felt we had a real psychic connection.’

他说：“当我和这头正在哺乳的野猪待在一起时，我感觉到我们有一种真正意义上的心灵沟通。”

‘I got as close as three metres away with my wide angle lens, but she always gave me the look to say please keep away when she needed to.

我用我的广角镜头靠近它们在3米左右，但它也总是会看着我表示它需要我离它远点。

’It goes to show that even with her young this boar was no threat to me or my well-behaved dogs because I was no threat to her. If people respect them then there is not a problem.’

这也显示了即使是和它的幼崽在一起，野猪对我或者我表现善意的小狗都是没有威胁的，而我对她也是没有威胁的。如果人们尊重它们，就没有任何问题了。