《中英對照讀新聞》Vulture numbers are cut to the bone 禿鷹數量銳減

◎俞智敏

South Africa、s national lottery is claiming an unlikely victim：vultures. Local people -- convinced these birds、 superb eyesight gives them the gift to see the future -- are eating vulture meat to acquire the power of clairvoyance.

南非的全國樂透正奪走一種意想不到的受害者的性命：禿鷹。當地人──相信禿鷹的絕佳眼力能幫助他們預見未來──正透過食用禿鷹肉來獲得透視力。

And they are not alone. In neighbouring Zimbabwe, voters fearful of supporting the losing side in recent elections ate vulture meat, mainly heads, talons, eyes and hearts, believing this would enable them to pick the winning party.

這樣做的人可不是只有他們。在鄰國辛巴威，擔心在近來舉行的數次選舉中選錯邊的選民也吃禿鷹肉，主要是吃頭、鷹爪、眼睛和心臟等部位，他們相信如此一來就能選出會獲勝的政黨。

In short, the vulture - the ultimate scavenger, for ever associated with pitiless opportunism -- has been sent spiralling towards extinction, say ornithologists.

簡而言之，禿鷹這種永遠令人聯想到無情的投機主義的終極食腐動物，已經急速減少到瀕臨絕種的地步，鳥類學家表示。

The consequence of this dramatic decline is not merely an issue that should concern wildlife enthusiasts. Vultures、 ability to pinpoint corpses as they circle hundreds of feet in the air, combined with their power to strip carcasses clean of their flesh in minutes, mean they are vital in limiting the spread of diseases in livestock. With vultures around, corpses don、t get a chance to rot and act as reservoirs for disease.

禿鷹數量銳減的後果，並非只是關懷野生動物人士要擔心的議題。禿鷹能在數百英尺高空盤旋時，精確鎖定屍體位置，加上能在數分鐘內將屍體上的肉剝除淨盡，意味著牠們對於遏止疾病在牲畜間散佈扮演了關鍵角色。有禿鷹在附近出沒，屍體就沒有機會腐壞，成為疾病的溫床。

新聞辭典

cut to the bone：片語，指減低到不能再低的程度。如︰How can we create quality programmes when our funding has been cut to the bone？（假如經費已被減到不能再低的程度，我們怎麼可能製作出高品質的節目？）

clairvoyance：千里眼、異常的洞察力。clairvoyant則指具有此種能力者，天眼通。

pinpoint：動詞，指精準找出位置，如 Engineers are trying to pinpoint the cause of the trouble.（工程師們正設法找出故障的原因。）