导读:2016年中国第一胎熊猫宝宝不到4天就早夭了。公众悲痛之余,愈发关注大熊猫低生育率和野外栖息地保护问题。
The panda cub was confirmed dead at around 5 am on Tuesday at Chengdu Research base for Giant Panda Breeding in Southwest China’s Sichuan Province, according to the base’s website.
据四川成都大熊猫繁育研究基地网站上的公告表示,他们在周二早上5点左右确认了这只大熊猫宝宝的死亡。
An autopsy showed the baby’s organs were all in good condition. The panda cub’s sudden death makes it a rare case among its captive family.
之后的尸检显示这只熊猫猫宝宝的器官功能运转正常。这次的突然死亡事件在熊猫家族里是非常少见的。
Human babies sometimes fall victim to a similar phenomenon named sudden infant death syndrome, the cause of which is still unknown.
人类婴儿有时也会患上类似的病症,这被称为“婴儿猝死综合症”,其产生原因尚不明确。
Further analysis of the cause of the cub’s death is underway at the base’s lab.
大熊猫繁育基地真正着手进行对幼崽致死原因的进一步分析。
The panda cub was born live at 6:06 am on May 6, and the condition of the baby had been carefully tended and stable from day one.
这只熊猫宝宝出生于5月6日早上6:06,随后它便被精心照料,身体情况从第一天开始就非常稳定。
The cub’s 9-year-old mother, Aibang, who had been on a diet for over 20 days, appeared to be entering labor on May 4. A global live broadcast of the birth on pandapia.com and other websites started at 7 pm that day and lasted about 35 hours, reaching a peak audience of over 1 million viewers worldwide.
熊猫宝宝的妈妈叫爱浜,今年9岁大。在生产前,爱浜节食了20天,随后在5月4日那天开始临盆。pandapia.com和其他一些网站对这场分娩进行了全球直播。爱浜的分娩开始于当天晚上7点,一共持续了35个小时,全世界最多有超过100万的观众同时观看了这场直播。
A similar live broadcast of Aibang giving birth in August 2014 ended in disappointment for audiences and researchers, as her pregnancy was false, and no baby arrived.
在2014年8月的时候,人们也为爱浜开通了一个分娩直播节目。但让观众和研究员失望的是,爱浜是假孕,并没有生出小宝宝。
Though rare, the sudden death of the newborn renewed public concerns over captive pandas’ low birth rate.
尽管这一猝死事故非常罕见,但是还是引起了公众对圈养大熊猫低生育率的关注。
Sun Quanhui, a senior scientific advisor at international NGO World Animal Protection, told the Global Times that there are many impact factors differentiating captive pandas’ behavior and physical conditions from those of wild pandas, noting that many factors including diet can contribute to the low birth rate.
国际非政府组织“野生动物保护”的资深科学顾问孙全辉(音)向《环球时报》透露,有很多因素能够造成圈养大熊猫和野生大熊猫在行为和身体条件方面存在区别,并指出包括饮食等因素都能够导致低生育率。
"Artificial assistance to panda breeding is indeed an important strategy," Sun added. "However, more attention could be paid to a new form of protection through restoration and maintenance of a proper habitat." Sun also quoted the research of Peking University professor Pan Wenshi, who found that pandas, a relict species, have actually proven to be more capable of breeding than human beings when they are in the wild.
孙全辉补充说道:“人工辅助熊猫繁殖的确是一项很重要的战略,但是更应该致力于寻找保护熊猫的新方式,适当恢复和保护野生大熊猫栖息地。”孙全辉还援引了北京大学教授潘文石(音)的研究结果,指出事实上大熊猫在野外的繁育能力比人类还要强。