本集内容

Scientists study dolphins' 'happiness' 科学家评估圈养宽吻海豚的“幸福”程度

学习要点

有关“animal welfare 动物福利”的词汇

边看边答

What's the flaw of the study, according to Professor Shultz?

文字稿

Bottlenose dolphins are the marine world's most charismatic mammals, which is why so many of them are kept in dolphinariums like this one near Paris.

宽吻海豚是海洋世界中最有魅力的哺乳动物，这就是为什么它们中的很多都被养在类似巴黎附近的这家海豚表演馆里。

There are an estimated five thousand bottlenose dolphins in captivity around the world - and it's only recently that scientists have begun to ask and investigate how these animals feel in this kind of an environment. This was an experiment designed to assess anticipation and enthusiasm.

全世界共有约五千只被圈养的宽吻海豚，但直到近期科学家才开始探询并调查它们生活在这类环境中的感受。这项实验旨在评估海豚表现出的期待和热情程度。

Dr Isabella Clegg, Dolphin welfare scientist

So we found a really interesting result was that all dolphins waited around most for the event where the trainer would come and play with them. And we've seen it in other zoo animals, other farm animals that better human-animal bonds equals better welfare.

伊莎贝拉·克雷格博士 海豚福利科学家
“我们得出了一个很有趣的结果，那就是所有海豚都对与训练师一同玩耍的活动表现出了最迫切的期盼。我们在其它生活在动物园和农场中的动物身上也观察到过这样的情感，即人与动物之间的关系越亲密，动物就有更好的福利保障。”

The aim is to use these findings to improve the lives of captive dolphins around the world, but for critics of this industry, a concrete pool can never be an acceptable home for these marine creatures.

该实验的目的是利用这些研究结果来改善世界各地驯养海豚的生活质量，但对于业界的评论人士来说，海洋馆内的混凝土水池终究不能成为用来安置这类海洋生物的家园。

Professor Susanne Shultz, University of Manchester 

This study is very much telling us how we can manage animals in the best possible way if they are captive. I don't think the study can tell us whether these animals are happier in captivity, or nearly as happy as they would be in the wild.

苏珊·舒尔茨教授 英国曼彻斯特大学
“这项研究有效地告诉我们怎样以尽可能最佳的方式去照顾圈养动物。我不认为它能说明生活在圈养环境中的这些动物是否更快乐或和在野外环境中时一样快乐。”

The much larger question remains of whether these animals are here to educate people about life in the oceans or simply for our entertainment.

有一个更大的问题仍需回答：这些圈养动物存在的目的是为了让人们了解海洋中的生命，还是仅供我们娱乐？

词汇

dolphinariums 海豚表演馆

in captivity 被圈养的，人工驯养的

human-animal bonds 人与动物的纽带、关系

in the wild 在野外环境中

你知道吗？

Dolphins have their own individual whistle. When greeting, they first produce their signature whistle to identify themselves and have been shown to remember a member of their original group’s own whistle years after last hearing it.

海豚能吹出有各自特色的口哨。每当见面打招呼时，它们会先发出自己的哨声，从而让同伴识别自己，有研究还发现海豚能记住其数年前听到的来自其原群体成员的哨声。

问题答案

Professor Shultz says that the study doesn't tell us whether dolphins are happier in captivity or nearly as happy as they would be in the wild.