我们为北极的连环杀手提供的“安乐窝”

Our Soft Spot for the Serial Killer of the Arctic

The news that Vilma, a polar bear at Nuremburg Zoo, appears to have eaten her newborn cubs will no doubt confuse our relationship with our new favourite animal. For some time now, the world has been in the throes of an enormous polar bear crush - they've been there in adverts and in films, in coffee-table books and children's stories, and, most of all, in the cautionary tales of global warming, clinging to a block of melting ice, looking sweet and sad and lovable.

There are 20,000-25,000 polar bears around the world, and though they are not yet listed as an endangered species, it is predicted that by the middle of this century their numbers will have decreased by two-thirds. Nevertheless they have become the icon of the climate-change movement, and as a result, are now the second most popular animal to adopt through the World Wildlife Fund, after orang-utans.

The reality is a little gorier. Polar bears are carnivores, in fact the most carnivorous of all the bear family. They are also huge, the males weighing up to a hulking great 600kg, and they feast on seals and whales, not to mention baby walruses， shellfish eggs and other polar bears. "I certainly wouldn't want to arm-wrestle one," says Mark Wright, science adviser to the WWF.

So why do we have such a soft spot for them? "I actually think that generally we have a soft-spot for predators," Wright says. "If you look at some of the animals we admire the most - lions, tigers, jaguars, cheetahs - they are often predators. We admire that they are so much better at it than us. And especially the polar bear, which is surviving in an extremely demanding environment."

Plus they look pretty cute. "Yes, they are beautiful to look at," Wright agrees. "And in children's literature bears tend to be kind, good characters."

It seems the rapid erosion of their natural habitat may soon bring us into closer contact with the object of our affection. Wright notes that in Russia and Canada, where most of the world's polar bears reside, they are increasingly heading into towns to forage, "so maybe they can adapt and become more urban, like foxes," he suggests. Considering the recent events at Nuremberg Zoo, this might not be such a great idea.

        我们为北极的连环杀手提供的“安乐窝”

        在德国的纽伦堡动物园，一只北极熊似乎吃掉了她刚生下来的幼仔。这条新闻无疑会让人们反思自己同这种深受喜爱的动物之间的关系。一段时间以来，世界充斥着这种体型庞大的北极熊的形象—他们出现在广告中，电影中，咖啡桌读物和儿童故事集中。尤为重要的是，在宣传全球变暖的故事中，这些北极熊们往往紧紧地抱住一块融化的冰，他们看起来是那么的甜美，可爱，但有些小伤感。

        全球共有20，000到25，000只北极熊，尽管目前他们还没被列为濒临灭绝的物种，据估计，到本世纪中叶，他们的数量将锐减三分之二。然而他们已经成为抵制气候变化运动的“形象代言人”。这样以来，他们就成为了世界野生动物基金会第二最受欢迎和领养的动物，排在第一的是大猩猩。

        事实却充满血腥。北极熊是食肉动物，而且是熊家族里最残暴的。他们体型巨大，成年公熊的体重可达600公斤。它们吃海豹和鲸鱼，更不要说海象宝宝，贝壳类生物的卵和其他北极熊了。“我可不想和他们来一场搏斗，”马克 莱特说，他是ＷＷＦ的一名科学顾问。

        那我们为什么让他们住在安稳舒适的环境里？“我想，总的来说我们为所有掠食动物提供舒适的环境”，怀特说，“看看我们最喜爱的动物—狮子，老虎，美洲虎和非洲豹，这些都是掠食动物。我们喜欢他们是因为比我们人类更善于生存。尤其是北极熊，他们能在极为艰苦的环境中生存

        再者，他们看起来很可爱。“是的，他们看起来好漂亮，”怀特说，“在儿童文学中，熊熊们的形象都很可爱，他们往往扮演好的角色。”

        似乎由于自然栖息地的锐减，我们会和这些倍受喜爱的动物们有更加亲密的接触。怀特说在北极熊聚居的俄罗斯和加拿大，他们正向城镇进发，寻找食物。“也许他们能很好地适应城镇的生活，就像狐狸一样。”他说。但考虑到最近在纽伦堡发生的事件，这也许不是一个好主意。