科學(xué)家一致認(rèn)為，全球野生動物第六次大滅絕已經(jīng)開始。世界自然基金會去年10月公布的報告顯示，受人類活動影響，全球野生動物數(shù)量自1970年以來已銳減58%，如不采取行動，世界上三分之二的野生動物可能會在10年內(nèi)消失。日前新研究指出，生物滅絕已經(jīng)加快了速度，如今連獵豹、獅子、長頸鹿這樣的常見野生動物也陷入了生存危機。

The sixth mass extinction of life on Earth is unfolding more quickly than feared, scientists have warned.
科學(xué)家們警告稱，全球野生動物“第六次大滅絕”的速度比預(yù)期的還要快。

More than 30 percent of animals with a backbone - fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals - are declining in both range and population, according to the first comprehensive analysis of these trends.
對動物滅絕趨勢的首個全面分析結(jié)果顯示，超過30%的脊椎動物，例如魚類、鳥類、兩棲動物、爬行動物以及哺乳動物等，它們的種類和數(shù)量都在減少。

"This is the case of a biological annihilation occurring globally," said Stanford professor Rodolfo Dirzo, co-author of a study published last Monday in the peer-reviewed US journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
這一研究結(jié)果近日在同行評審期刊《美國國家科學(xué)院院刊》上發(fā)表，該報告的合著者斯坦福大學(xué)教授魯?shù)婪?狄爾佐說：“這就是全球性生物大滅絕的現(xiàn)狀?！?

Around a decade ago, experts feared that a new planetary wipeout of species was looming.
專家們在大約十年前就預(yù)料到新一階段的全球性生物大滅絕即將到來。

Today, most agree that it is underway - but the new study suggests that the die-out is already ratcheting up a gear.
現(xiàn)在多數(shù)專家都一致認(rèn)為生物滅絕已經(jīng)開始，但是新的研究表明，生物滅絕已經(jīng)加快了速度。

It provides much-needed data about the threat to wildlife, mapping the dwindling ranges and populations of 27,600 species. For 177 mammals, researchers combed through data covering the period 1900 to 2015.
研究中提供了威脅野生物種的重要數(shù)據(jù)，繪制出了27600種生物種類和數(shù)量下降的分布圖。其中，研究人員專門針對177種哺乳動梳理出了1900年至2015年間的數(shù)據(jù)。

The mammal species that were monitored have lost at least a third of their original habitat, the researchers found.
研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，他們所觀測的這些哺乳動物已經(jīng)失去了至少三分之一的原始棲息地。

Forty percent of them - including rhinos, orangutans, gorillas and many big cats - are surviving on 20 percent or less of the land they once roamed.
包括犀牛、猩猩、大猩猩以及大型貓科動物等在內(nèi)的40%的哺乳動物，現(xiàn)在的活動區(qū)域僅為它們原有棲息地的20%或者更小。

The loss of biodiversity has recently accelerated.
生物多樣性的減少最近也加速了。

"Several species of mammals that were relatively safe one or two decades ago are now endangered," including cheetahs, lions and giraffes, the study showed.
研究顯示，包括獵豹、獅子以及長頸鹿在內(nèi)的數(shù)種哺乳動物“在一二十年前還相對安全，然而現(xiàn)在處于瀕危狀態(tài)?！?/p>

Globally, the mass die-off - deemed to be the sixth in the last half-billion years - is the worst since three-quarters of life on Earth, including the non-avian dinosaurs, were wiped out 66 million years ago by a giant meteor impact.
6600萬年前，由于一顆巨大隕石撞擊地球，包括非鳥翼類恐龍在內(nèi)，地球上四分之三的生物都遭到滅絕。這次全球性生物滅絕被認(rèn)為是五億年以來第六次生物大滅絕，而且是自恐龍滅絕以來最嚴(yán)重的。

There is no mystery as to why: our own ever-expanding species - which has more than doubled in number since 1960 to 7.4 billion - is eating, crowding and polluting its planetary cohabitants out of existence.
引發(fā)生物大滅絕的原因顯而易見：人類不斷繁衍壯大，人口達(dá)到74億，相比1960年不止翻了一番。人們以動物為食，并把動物們擠出家園，同時還污染環(huán)境，讓動物們無法生存。

By comparison, there are as few as 20,000 lions left in the wild, less than 7,000 cheetahs, 500 to 1,000 giant pandas and about 250 Sumatran rhinoceros.
相比之下，在野外生活的獅子只剩下20000只，獵豹只有不到7000只，大熊貓只剩下500到1000只，蘇門答臘犀牛也只有250頭左右。

罪魁禍?zhǔn)?/strong>