来源：《洛杉矶时报》
原文刊登日期：2021年3月10日
It wasn’t so long ago that orange clouds of monarch butterflies would descend upon the California coast every winter. The western population of the majestic butterfly migrates from nearby states to spend the cold months in groves of trees between Marin County and San Diego.
就在不久以前，每年冬天，橙色的帝王蝶会成群结队地降落在加利福尼亚海岸。这种美丽蝴蝶的西部种群从附近各州迁徙到马林县和圣地亚哥之间的树林里度过寒冷的几个月。
In the 1980s, there were millions of monarch butterflies wintering in California. Counts in 2018 and 2019 found only around 30,000 monarchs, less than 1% of the population’s historical size. In 2020, volunteers counted just 2,000.
20世纪80年代，有数百万只帝王蝶在加州过冬。2018年和2019年的统计发现，只有大约30,000只帝王蝶，不到历史规模的1%。到2020年，志愿者清点发现只有2000只。
Habitat loss, pesticide use and climate change have whittled down the monarch butterfly population nationwide, but monarchs west of the Rocky Mountains have been especially hard hit. There’s a very real possibility that the western population could disappear. Yet despite the dire situation, monarch butterflies do not have endangered-species protections.
栖息地的丧失、杀虫剂的使用和气候变化导致全美范围内的帝王蝶数量减少，但落基山脉以西的帝王蝶受到的打击尤其严重。西部种群极有可能消失。然而，尽管形势严峻，帝王蝶并没有受到濒危物种保护。
A Sacramento Superior Court judge ruled last year that insects couldn’t be protected under California’s Endangered Species Act. The state is appealing the ruling, but ultimately the Legislature may need to make clear that butterflies, bumblebees and other insect species are eligible for state protection.
萨克拉门托高等法院法官去年裁定，帝王蝶不受加州濒危物种法案的保护。加州正在对这一裁决提出上诉，但最终加州立法机构可能需要明确蝴蝶、大黄蜂和其他昆虫物种有资格获得州保护。
Conservation groups sought to add monarch butterflies to the federal list of threatened and endangered species in 2014. In the final months of the Trump administration, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided that while the butterflies meet the criteria for listing, they weren’t a high enough priority to be listed yet. Essentially, monarchs were waitlisted for full protection. The Biden administration should reconsider that decision.
2014年，保护组织试图将帝王蝶列入联邦濒危物种名单。在特朗普政府任期的最后几个月里，美国鱼类和野生动物管理局决定，虽然这些蝴蝶符合列入名单的标准，但它们的优先级还不够高，不能列入名单。实际上，帝王蝶被列入了全面保护的候选名单。拜登政府应该重新考虑这一决定。
How much longer can authorities afford to wait? The Fish and Wildlife Service’s scientists have estimated that there is a 96% to 100% chance that the western monarch population will collapse within 50 years. The eastern population, which is found east of the Rocky Mountains, has also declined dramatically; there is an 80% chance the eastern population could collapse in the same period.
行政部门还能等多久？鱼类和野生动物管理局的科学家估计，在50年内，西方帝王蝶的数量将有96%到100%的几率崩溃。落基山脉以东的东部种群数量也急剧下降；东部种群有80%的可能在同一时期崩溃。
The challenges facing monarch butterflies are many, but they are not insurmountable if there is an ambitious, coordinated effort to protect them. That requires limiting the use of weedkillers that destroy the monarchs’ food supply and insecticides that threaten pollinators, including butterflies and bees.
帝王蝶面临的挑战很多，但如果有一个雄心勃勃的、协调一致的努力来保护它们，这些挑战也不是不可克服的。这就要求限制使用破坏帝王蝶食物供应的除草剂和威胁蝴蝶和蜜蜂等传粉昆虫的杀虫剂。
California has an even greater responsibility to act. Researchers think the precipitous drop in the western monarch population is largely due to the loss and damage of the butterflies’ winter habitat. Coastal communities must protect the groves of trees that monarchs rely upon. When trees have to be felled, they should be replaced. Property owners can plant native flowering plants and stop dousing gardens with pesticides.
加州有更大的责任采取行动。研究人员认为，西部帝王蝶数量的急剧下降主要是由于蝴蝶冬季栖息地的丧失和破坏。沿海社区必须保护帝王蝶赖以生存的树林。当树木必须被砍伐时，应该种植新树木。业主可以种植本地开花植物，不再在花园里喷洒杀虫剂。
It’s inexcusable to allow such an iconic species to dwindle before our eyes. Monarch butterflies deserve immediate protection.
让这样一个标志性的物种在我们眼前消失是不可原谅的。帝王蝶应该立即得到保护。