双语：世界上最开心的萌物

2013-01-14 00:00:00来源：沪江英语网

　　When it comes to cute animal pictures, there"s no beating this cheekycreature, who may as well have wandered straight out of a feel-good kids' movie.
　　要论起最可爱的动物图片的话，没有什么比得上这种“厚脸皮”的生物，说不定它就是直接从电影里蹦出来的：活像一个自我感觉良好的小孩！

　　Meet the Quokka, a marsupialthat seems to have come straight from an animator at Disney, but is actually native to a small corner of southwestern Australia.
　　短尾矮袋鼠是种有袋类哺乳动物，看起来就好像是迪士尼里的卡通形象一样，而它实际上是澳大利亚西南角一小块区域的一种特有动物。

　　Unlike a frightening number of Australian animals, the Quokka poses no threat to humans, and -- as these pictures make abundantly clear -- can be quite friendly.
　　在澳大利亚，能对人类构成威胁的动物多得可怕，但短尾矮袋鼠却不具有威胁力，而且，正如照片里看起来的那样，它们非常友好。

　　That friendliness may partially explain why, according to the Perth Zoo, the once-plentiful Quokka was drastically reduced in number after the dingoand foxes found their way to Australia.
　　根据澳大利亚珀斯动物园的说法，正是因为它们很友好，也在一定程度上可以解释了：为什么在澳洲野狗和狐狸来到澳大利亚后，一度众多的短尾矮袋鼠数量急剧下降。

　　The animal is currently listed as "vulnerable," according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Thanks to conservation efforts and fox control programs, their populations are recovering in some areas.
　　世界自然保护联盟濒危物种红色名录目前将短尾矮袋鼠列为“中度濒危物种” 。多亏了保护措施和控制狐狸数目的项目，短尾矮袋鼠数量在某些地区正在恢复。

　　I went to Rottnest island a couple years ago, these things are everythere! I went for a run at nights, and I tripped over one and he just looked at me, smiled and kept going about his business.
　　几年前我去过一次澳大利亚的洛特尼斯岛，这种短尾矮袋鼠到处都是！我晚上出去跑步的时候被一只小家伙给绊倒了。它微笑地看了看我，然后继续自己该干嘛干嘛去了。

　　First time I went to Rottnest I didn't know you had to hide your food in the chalets. I got home one day to find quokkas had gotten in through the back door and had eaten all the chocolate biscuits.
　　第一次去洛特尼斯岛的时候，我还不知道得把食物藏起来，一天我回家，发现短尾矮袋鼠从后门溜进来了，吃光了我所有的巧克力饼干。

本文关键字: 澳大利亚