野豬被馴服 變身寵物
出沒在迪恩森林兇猛的野豬變化成了會啃遊客手指頭的可愛的小豬。
As wild boar go, this lot don’t seem very wild at all.
隨着野生野豬逐漸消失，這種動物看起來已經沒有太多野生的習性了。
Hundreds now live in the Forest of Dean, where several are happy to take food from visitors’ hands and even accept a stroke on the snout.
成千上萬的野豬現在都居住在迪恩森林裏，它們中的許多都喜歡從遊客手中獲取食物，並樂於享受被輕輕撫摸臉。
Rangers at the Gloucestershire beauty spot warn that animal lovers should beware because boar can be aggressive and cause serious injury.
格洛斯特郡的風景名勝區的流浪者提醒喜歡動物的人們要小心一點，因爲野豬是有攻擊性的，會對人們造成很大的傷害。
But David Slater, who took these photographs, insists that the creatures pose no threat.
但是，拍下這些照片的David Slater堅持認爲這些生物是不會對人造成威脅的。
‘There have been no attacks on humans in the UK to date, and this year not even a dog has been reported injured by boar,’ he said.
他說：“到目前爲止，在英國還沒有出現過人類被襲擊的情況，今年就連一隻狗被野豬襲擊受傷的事件都沒有報道發生過。”
‘Compare this with how many people are injured by or fear dogs, and fear of wild boar is completely out of proportion.’
有多少人恐懼或者被狗襲擊受傷的和害怕野豬的人相比較是完全不成比例的。
The boar community has flourished in the forest after up to 350 escaped from a farm a decade ago and others were illegally dumped by the side of a road.
10年前高達350頭野豬從一個農場裏逃出來，其它的野豬被遺棄在公路旁後，森林裏的野豬數量就開始在不斷繁榮增長。
Experts say all the surviving animals and their descendants are now wild, and to avoid the population doubling every year the animals are subject to a carefully managed cull.
專家說所有幸存的動物以及它們繁殖的後代都是野生的，爲了避免它們的數量每年雙倍的增加，這些動物都會被細緻的管理控制宰殺。
Another visitor said: ‘Some of the tamer ones seem unconcerned by humans approaching them, and seem as curious about us as we are about them. I have seen people feeding them by hand, and they seem to like the attention.
另一個遊客說：“有些被馴服的動物完全不介意人類靠近它們，就像我們對他們一樣的對人類表示好奇。我看到過人們用手餵食這些動物，它們看起來很喜歡這種照料。
‘They look as comfortable as pets, probably because lots were raised on farms and got used to people. However, you never know what could happen with an animal this size.’
它們看起來就像寵物一樣舒服，這大概是因爲它們許多都是在農場養大的，習慣了人類。然而，丹尼絕不會知道這些動物會發生什麼。”
The forest’s chief wildlife ranger Ian Harvey, says staying well clear of them will reduce the chance of wild boar losing their natural instinct for caution around people.
森林的野生動物主管Ian Harvey說：“保持清醒的瞭解這些動物會降低野豬對人類小心謹慎的自然本能的風險。”
Mr Slater admits boar can be aggressive to protect their young, just like cows or deer, but claims the cull is going too far with even suckling mothers and piglets being shot.
Slater先生承認就像牛或者鹿一樣，野豬在保護它們的幼崽的時候是會有攻擊性的。但他聲稱，這還沒有到達屠殺正在哺乳的母豬和幼崽。
However Mt Harvey responded: ‘We are not aiming to eradicate wild boar in the Forest of Dean. Our management objective is to reduce the potential for adverse interaction between the boar and people it is not to eradicate the boar.’
但是Mt Harvey迴應說：“我們並沒有打算消滅掉迪恩森林裏的野豬。我們的管理目標是減少野豬和人類的不良互動的潛在風險，而不是要屠殺它們。”Mr Slater claims that on one occasion he ‘befriended’ a female boar which was giving birth, and allowed him to stay and photograph her.
Mr Slater聲稱，曾經有一次他和一頭雌性野豬結成了朋友，它願意允許他留下來拍照。
He said her behaviour and acceptance of him proves the boars do not need to be feared because they are not a threat to well-meaning people.
他說這頭母豬的行爲和對他的接受也證實了我們不需要害怕野豬，因爲他們對飽含好意的人類是沒有任何威脅的。
He said: ‘While I was with this suckling female I felt we had a real psychic connection.’
他說：“當我和這頭正在哺乳的野豬待在一起時，我感覺到我們有一種真正意義上的心靈溝通。”
‘I got as close as three metres away with my wide angle lens, but she always gave me the look to say please keep away when she needed to.
我用我的廣角鏡頭靠近它們在3米左右，但它也總是會看着我表示它需要我離它遠點。
’It goes to show that even with her young this boar was no threat to me or my well-behaved dogs because I was no threat to her. If people respect them then there is not a problem.’
這也顯示了即使是和它的幼崽在一起，野豬對我或者我表現善意的小狗都是沒有威脅的，而我對她也是沒有威脅的。如果人們尊重它們，就沒有任何問題了。
