相信，我们每一个人都知道，人类拥有着强大的力量。我们可以发明火箭冲向外太空；我们能够修建大坝改变大江大河的流向；我们可以切山、填海……我们以为自己是主宰，可以改造大自然。

　　可是我们又知道吗，这种力量极具破坏性，甚至可以毁灭大自然。由于我们在地球上的活动，由于我们的干预，现在物种灭绝的速度比历史上任何时候都要快，地球上很多动物已经完全灭绝了，无论在哪个角落都已经没有了他们的踪迹。

　　今天我们将看看因人类的原因而灭绝的十种动物。

　　Dodo 渡渡鸟

　　There's no early modern extinct animal more recognizable than the dodo. A fat large beaked flightless bird that inhabited the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, the dodo lived in blissful harmony, until Dutch settlers arrived on the island and fleeced the dodo out of its existence. Having no natural predators on an island where they reigned supreme, the dodo was completely unequipped to deal with the humans and the animals introduced by them like pigs and macaques that infested the island. It took only 64 years for dodos to be completely wiped out, with the birds considered officially extinct by 1662. 

　　没有比渡渡鸟更有名的灭绝动物了。它是生活在印度洋毛里求斯岛上的一种胖胖的、有着大喙的，不会飞的鸟。在岛上，渡渡鸟一直过着无忧无虑的、和谐的生活，直到荷兰殖民者到了毛里求斯，他们把渡渡鸟从它们的栖息地赶走。在渡渡鸟主宰的岛屿上，它们没有天敌，因此它们完全没有能力对付人类和他们引进的动物，比如在岛上大量出没的野猪和猕猴。只过了64年，渡渡鸟就彻底灭绝了。1662年，渡渡鸟正式灭绝。

　　Western black rhinoceros

　　西部黑犀牛

　　Illegal trade in wildlife is now estimated to be worth around 10 billion dollars per year. This is driving many species to extinction. Hunted for the supposed medicinal value of its horn, the Western subspecies of black rhino was poached to oblivion during the 20th century. It's now accident that the species that gone extinct is a species which is prized for one part of it that is the horn. Though preservation actions were taken to 1930s, the rhino population went into a steep decline shortly thereafter dropping to only a few hundred in the 1980s, only 10 individuals in 2000 and only 5 the next year. The last reported sighting occurred in 2006 and in 2011 the Rhino was declared extinct, making it the first Rhino species to go extinct in modern times, though it's likely that the Sumatran and Javan rhinos are soon to follow.

　　据估计，目前与野生动物有关的非法贸易额每年约100亿美元，这使许多物种走向灭绝。据说西部黑犀牛的角有药用价值，因此而被猎杀。这种黑犀牛的西部亚种在20世纪被偷猎殆尽。巧合的是，这个灭绝的物种因为它身体的一部分而被珍视，那就是角。尽管保护行动一直持续到20世纪30年代，但犀牛的数量仍在急剧下降。此后不久，到20世纪80年代仅有几百头，2000年仅有10头，第二年仅剩5头。人们最近一次看到犀牛是在2006年。2011年西部黑犀牛被宣布灭绝，这是现代第一个灭绝的犀牛物种，不过苏门答腊犀和爪哇犀可能很快也会步其后尘。

　　Caribbean monk seal 

　　加勒比僧海豹

　　Named for the folds on its head that resembled a monk's hood, the Caribbean monk seal was extremely common in the West Indies during the 17th century. The seals blubber offered a sizable oil yield for use in lamps and machinery, so explores and settlers killed the docile pinnipeds. By the hundreds commercial fishing further ravaged the population by destroying their food supply. And by the early 1900's sighting were very rare. The last confirmed killing of a Caribbean monk seal was in 1939. And the last verified sighting was in 1952.

　　加勒比僧海豹的名字源自它头上的褶皱，就像僧侣的头巾一样。加勒比僧海豹在17世纪的西印度群岛非常普遍。海豹的脂肪为灯具和机械提供了大量的油料供给，因此探险家和当地人杀死了数百只这种温顺的鳍脚类动物。而商业捕渔减少了加勒比僧海豹的食物来源，进一步使它们的数量锐减。到了20世纪初，人们就很少能看到加勒比僧海豹了，而最后一次确认被杀死加勒比僧海豹是在1939年。人们最后一次看到它是在1952年。

　　Thylacine 袋狼

　　This was the really most beautiful spectacular flesheating mammal in Australia and the first thing we did when we got here was exterminated. Also known as the Tasmanian tiger or Tasmanian wolf, the final sign is now mythic creature that was once very much real. As a large carnivorous marsupial, the final sign was Australia's top predator for thousands of years before becoming extinct on the mainland. Possibly due to competition with humans and dingoes, the tiger thrived on Tasmania. However, until Europeans settled the island and declared the rather harmless marsupial a pest, bounty programs were set in place that destroyed thousands of thylacines. And by 1930 they were extinct in the wild, though there have been thousands of unconfirmed reports in years since including several convincing videos. The last known thylacine died in the Hobart Zoo in 1936.

　　这是澳大利亚最美丽、最漂亮的食肉哺乳动物。但人类到达此地的第一件事就是让他们灭绝了。袋狼也被称为塔斯马尼亚虎、塔斯马尼亚狼。现在，它最后的印象是一种神话生物，然而曾经是真实存在的。作为一种大型食肉有袋类动物，在灭绝前的数千年里，它一直是澳大利亚的顶级捕食者。可能是由于与人类和澳大利亚野狗竞争，袋狼在塔斯马尼亚岛上兴旺起来。然而，当欧洲人在岛上定居并宣布这种相当无害的有袋动物是有害生物后，设置了奖金奖励计划，于是数千只袋狼惨遭捕杀。到1930年，袋狼在野生灭绝了，尽管从那以后的几年里有成千上万起未经证实的报道，甚至包括一些令人信服的视频。1936年，最后一只袋狼死于霍巴特动物园。

　　Great Auks 大海雀

　　The great auk was a medium-sized flightless bird, kind of resembling a penguin. It occupied the entire expanse of the northern Atlantic Ocean living in the coastal waters from the northeastern United States to northern Spain. Being a plump sedentary animal, the great auk was a practical and plentiful food source for Native American cultures and North Atlantic travelers. However, the consumption of the auks as well as the hunting of the birds for its own down feathers outnumbered its reproduction rates. And soon there was an existential emergency. Naturalist tried but failed to save the species. And the last confirmed specimens were shot in 1844. It was declared extinct in 1852.

　　大海雀是一种中等体型、不会飞的鸟，有点像企鹅。它占据了北大西洋地区，生活在从美国东北部到西班牙北部的沿海水域。大海雀是一种胖胖的、像坐着的动物，是北美人和北大西洋旅行者实用而丰富的食物来源。然而人类对大海雀的消耗量以及为了它的羽毛而被猎取的数量远远超过了它的繁殖率。很快大海雀就遇到了了生死攸关的紧急时刻。一位自然学家试图拯救这个物种，但失败了。最后一张被证实的大海雀在1844年被射杀，并在1852年被宣布灭绝。

　　Atlas Bear 阿特拉斯熊

　　Used in gladiator events in Roman times, the Atlas bear was a larger formidable carnivore and the only bear endemic to modern Africa. The Roman Empire was largely responsible for the bears decline, as thousands were captured and ritualistically killed in baiting and fighting competitions. Following the fail of the empire and the advent of firearms, the bears were over hunted and driven to small fragmented populations in the Atlas Mountains. They became a rare and soughtafter item for collectors with many being captured for zoos and fairs which further attribute the population. The bears fell to human greed and the last individual was killed in 1870.

　　阿特拉斯熊是一种可怕的大型食肉动物，曾经在罗马时代用于角斗士比赛，是现代非洲特有的一种熊。阿特拉斯熊数量的减少很大程度上归咎于罗马帝国，因为成千上万的阿特拉斯熊被人类捕捉，然后在格斗中死去。随着罗马帝国的衰落和枪炮的出现，阿特拉斯熊被过度捕杀导致剩下一小部分，并被驱逐到阿特拉斯山脉中。对收藏家来说，它们成了一件稀有而抢手之物，许多被捕捉送往动物园以及在集市上进行买卖，又进一步减少了阿特拉斯熊的数量。这些熊因人类的贪婪而数量锐减，最后一只也在1870年被捕杀。

　　Steller's Sea Cow 大海牛

　　As the largest kind of Sirena in history, the Steller's sea cow was a conspicuous staple of North Pacific marine life. Discovered by zoologist Georg Wihelm Stellar in 1741, the sea cow was not known for its speed so as a result its slowness meant who easily hunted by European sailors for its meat skin, fat and oil. The sea cow had already been hunted centuries prior to by Aboriginals, meaning that only a single small population remained around the Commander Island. By 1768, the population was entirely destroyed and no verified sightings of the sea cow appeared after thus within 27 years of Europeans first laying eyes on it, the Steller's sea cow was officially extinct.

　　作为历史上最大型的一种美人鱼，斯特拉大海牛是北太平洋海洋生物的重要组成。由动物学家乔治·威廉·斯特拉在1741年首次发现，大海牛并不以速度有名，导致因为游速缓慢而很容易被欧洲的水手猎杀，以获取它的肉、皮、脂肪和油。早在几个世纪以前，土著居民已经开始捕杀大海牛，这意味着在司令岛附近只剩下少数的海牛。到1768年，海牛的数量锐减。在欧洲人第一次发现大海牛后的27年，没有任何人再见过大海牛，大海牛正式灭绝。

　　Falkland Wolf  福克兰群岛狼

　　Without any predators to instill consciousness, these small Falklandlike wolves were sitting ducks for the first human settlers on the island. The only land mammal native to the Falkland Island, the wolves had no natural fear of humans and nowhere to hide if they did. With little resistance, the wolves were hunted indiscriminately for everything from fur, livestock safety and just plain fun. By the time Charles Darwin arrived on the island in 1833, he noted the rarity of the wolf's and predicted their demise within a few years. Sure enough in 1876 the Falkland Islands Wolf was extinct.

　　在没有任何捕食者来灌输思想，这些福克兰小狼成了岛上第一批人类定居者最容易攻击的目标。它们原产于福克兰群岛，是那里唯一陆地哺乳动物。这些狼对人类没有天然的恐惧，即使有也无处藏身。在几乎没有抵抗力的情况下，人们为了皮毛，牲畜的安全甚至是纯粹的乐趣而不加选择地猎杀福克兰群岛狼。在1833年，查尔斯·达尔文抵达该岛时，他已经注意到这种狼很稀有，并预测它们将在几年内灭绝。果然，1876年，福克兰群岛狼灭绝了。

　　Javan Tiger 爪哇虎

　　Three tiger subspecies became extinct within the last 80 years, and the Javan tiger is among them. Formerly found in Java, the most populated island in Indonesia, the tiger was widespread on the island at the turn of the 20th century until a human population explosion resulted in the loss of habitat that caused a massive decline. In the 1930s, almost a quarter of Java was forest. But by the mid 70s forests accounted for less than 10% of the island. Mass killings by hunters and soldiers further whittled the population down and by 1980s only a handful of tigers remained. The last known Javan Tiger was killed in 1984.

　　在过去的80年里，有三只老虎的亚种灭绝，而爪哇虎就是其中之一。爪哇虎最初在爪哇，这座印尼人口最多的岛屿上被发现。20世纪初，老虎在爪哇岛上广泛分布，但后来人口爆炸式增长导致它丧失了栖息地，从而使爪哇虎的数量大大减少。20世纪30年代，爪哇岛上几乎四分之一的面积都是森林，但到了70年代中期，森林面积只占不到10%。猎人和士兵的大肆猎杀进一步让爪哇虎的数量减少。到了1980年，世界上仅存少量爪哇虎。1984年，最后被人所知的爪哇虎被猎杀。

　　Quaggsa 伯切尔氏斑马

　　As animals of zebra quagga, the quagga was uniquely patterned subspecies of zebra, with the front half looking like a zebra and the back half looking more like a horse. The quagga was a prized attraction for natives on the African plains who hunted the quagga for its skin and sometimes for meat. When Dutch settlers colonized the area, the quagga was considered more than a pest enterprise and it was hunted to reduce grazing competition with their own livestock. The quagga once roaming in herds of hundreds was decimated by the 1850s. And by 1878, the last wild quagga died. The last captive specimen died in Amsterdam in 1883.

　　伯切尔氏斑马是斑马的一种，是斑马中拥有独特图案的斑马亚种。它的前半部分看着像斑马，后半部分看起来更像马。对于非洲平原上的土著居民来说，伯切尔氏斑马具有珍贵的吸引力。他们猎取斑马是为了皮毛，有时为了肉。当荷兰殖民者殖民非洲时，伯切尔氏斑马被认为是一种有害的物种。为了避免抢夺牲畜的牧草，伯切尔氏斑马被猎杀。在19世纪50年代，数百只伯切尔氏斑马成群结队地游荡，结果被大量捕杀。到了1878年，最后一只野生伯切尔氏斑马去世。1883年，最后一只被捕获的伯切尔氏斑马在阿姆斯特丹死去。