袋鼠数量突破4500万 澳洲呼吁民众多吃袋鼠肉

Australians have been encouraged to eat more kangaroo meat as a way of controlling the population, which is nearing 50 million.

澳洲呼吁民众多吃袋鼠肉，以控制袋鼠数量。如今澳洲袋鼠的数量已将近5000万只。

Government figures from 2016 show there were almost 45 million kangaroos, nearly double the human population of Australia.

2016年的政府数据显示，现在澳洲有约4500万只袋鼠，是澳洲人口的近两倍。

In 2010, there were around 27 million, with the huge rise in numbers considered to be due to environmental factors, with high rainfall resulting in more food for the kangaroos.

2010年，澳洲有约2700万只袋鼠。袋鼠数量大增被认为是环境因素导致的，丰富的降水给袋鼠们带来了更多的食物。

Experts are now encouraging Australians to hunt the marsupials in order to reduce their numbers.

专家现在鼓励澳洲人捕猎袋鼠来降低袋鼠数量。

Associate Professor David Paton, from the University of Adelaide, said Australians needed to embrace kangaroo meat to avoid wasting their carcasses once they are culled.

阿德莱德大学的副教授戴维•帕顿说，澳洲人需要吃更多袋鼠肉，避免袋鼠被杀死后肉被浪费掉。

He told ABC News: "If we're going to cull these animals we do it humanely, but we also perhaps should think about what we might use the animals that are killed for."

他告诉澳大利亚广播公司资讯节目说：“如果我们要捕杀袋鼠，我们会采用人道的方式，但或许我们也该想想被杀掉的袋鼠可以做什么用。”

He added: “We shouldn’t just simply leave them out in paddocks to rot or leave them in the reserves to rot.”

他补充说：“我们不应该只是把袋鼠尸体留在围场或保护区里烂掉。”

Professor Paton went on to warn a large kangaroo population could pose a threat to biodiversity.

帕顿教授还警告说，数量庞大的袋鼠会对生物多样性构成威胁。

“It’s not the kangaroos’ fault they’re overabundant, it’s probably we’ve just been too reluctant to take a stick to them, remove them out of the system sooner, to actually prevent the damage being caused," he said.

他说：“袋鼠数量过多并不是袋鼠的错，很可能只是我们懒得去制约它们，没有早点把过多的袋鼠从生态系统中除去来预防损害。”