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气候变暖加剧猎豹与其他大型猫科动物的潜在冲突
Cheetahs usually hunt during the day.
猎豹通常在白天捕猎。
But the fast cats change their activity to early morning and early evening hours during warmer weather, a recent study says.
但最近的一项研究表明，在天气变暖的时候，这种速度快的猫科动物会在清晨和傍晚活动。
The time change sets the creatures up for more possible conflicts with competing predators - such as lions and leopards - that often hunt at night, say the study writers.
该研究论文的作者表示，活动时间的改变使这种生物更有可能与竞争的捕食者——如经常在夜间捕猎的狮子和豹子——发生冲突。
Their research was published recently in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
他们的研究论文最近发表在《英国皇家学会学报B》上。
Briana Abrahms of the University of Washington was a study co-writer.
华盛顿大学的布里安娜·阿布拉姆斯是这项研究的合著者。
Abrahms said that changing temperatures can have an effect on "the behavior .... of large carnivore species and also the dynamics among species."
阿布拉姆斯说，温度的变化会对“大型食肉动物物种的行为……以及物种间的动态变化产生影响。”
While cheetahs only eat fresh meat, lions and leopards will sometimes take food from smaller predators.
猎豹只吃鲜肉，而狮子和豹子有时会从较小的捕食者那里获取食物。
"Lions and leopards normally kill prey themselves, but if they come across a cheetah's kill, they will try to take it," said Bettina Wachter of the Cheetah Research Project at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research.
莱布尼茨动物园和野生动物研究所猎豹研究项目负责人贝蒂娜·瓦赫特说：“狮子和豹子通常会自己捕杀猎物，但如果它们遇到猎豹的猎物，它们就会试图抓住猎物。”
"The cheetahs will not fight the larger cats, they will just leave," said Wachter, who was not involved in the study.
没有参与这项研究的瓦赫特说：“猎豹不会与体型较大的猫科动物打斗，它们只会离开”。
Hunting at different times of the day is one way to reduce meetings between the different predator species that share northern Botswana's mixed grass and forest lands.
在一天中的不同时间狩猎是旨在减少不同捕食者物种之间相遇的一种方式，这些捕食者物种共享博茨瓦纳北部的林草混合区。
But the new study found that on the hottest days, when daily temperatures got to nearly 45 degrees Celsius, cheetahs became more active at night.
但这项新研究发现，在最热的日子里，当每天的最高气温接近45摄氏度时，猎豹在晚上变得更加活跃。
This means cheetahs spent 16 percent more time hunting when other big cats hunt.
这意味着猎豹与其他大型猫科动物的重叠捕猎时间增加了16%。
Kasim Rafiq of the University of Washington and the nonprofit Botswana Predator Conservation Trust was another co-writer of the study.
华盛顿大学和非营利组织博茨瓦纳捕食者保护信托基金的卡西姆·拉菲克是这项研究的另一位合著者。
Rafiq said about the shared hunting hours: "There's a greater chance for more unfriendly encounters and less food for the cheetahs."
拉菲克在谈到共同的狩猎时间时说：“猎豹更有可能遇到更多不友好的遭遇，食物也更少。”
For the current study, researchers placed GPS devices on 53 large carnivores - including cheetahs, lions, leopards and African wild dogs.
在目前的研究中，研究人员在53种大型食肉动物身上放置了GPS设备，其中包括猎豹、狮子、豹和非洲野犬。
Researchers then recorded their positions and hours of activity over eight years.
研究人员随后记录了他们在八年内的位置和活动时间。
They compared this data with the highest daily temperature records.
他们将这些数据与每日最高温度记录进行了比较。
While seasonal differences explain most temperature changes in the time between 2011 to 2018, the scientists say the observed behavior changes offer information about the future of a warming world.
尽管季节性差异解释了2011年至2018年期间的大部分温度变化，但科学家们表示，观察到的行为变化提供了有关全球变暖未来的信息。
In future research, the scientists plan to use audio-recording devices and accelerometers - "like a Fitbit for big cats," said Rafiq.
在未来的研究中，科学家们计划使用录音设备和加速器——“就像大型猫科动物的Fitbit，”拉菲克说。
The goal is to document the number of meetings between large meat-eating animals.
目的是记录大型食肉动物之间相遇的次数。
In addition to competition with lions and leopards, cheetahs already face strong pressure from the loss of living space and conflict with humans.
除了与狮子和豹的竞争外，猎豹还面临着生存空间丧失和与人类的冲突所带来的巨大压力。
The fastest land animal, cheetahs are the rarest big cat in Africa, with fewer than 7,000 left in the wild.
猎豹是速度最快的陆地动物，是非洲最稀有的大型猫科动物，目前野外仅存不到7000只。
"These climate changes could become really critical if we look into the future - it's predicted to become much warmer in this part of Africa where cheetahs live, in Botswana, Namibia and Zambia," said Wachter of the Cheetah Research Project.
猎豹研究项目的瓦赫特说：“如果我们展望未来，这些气候变化可能会变得非常严重——据预测，在非洲的博茨瓦纳、纳米比亚和赞比亚等猎豹生活的地区，气候将会变得更加温暖。”
I'm John Russell.
约翰·拉塞尔为您播报。
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发表于 2023-11-23 13:17:26