国家地理-2008-03-17 Baby Gorilla 人类抚养的大猩猩

This is Wild Chronicles. I am White Matthews.

 At the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, an infant gorilla¹ named Wumundi gets some tender loving care from a dedicated² keeper and lots of attention from curious visitors.

He is on with a keeper all the time 24 hours a day.

 Zoo spokesman Sean Anglum explains that the baby’s real mother abandoned him at birth. Twelve-year-old Kwisha was hand raised by humans with diapers and bottle. She had nowhere to learn how to raise her own young.

 His mom gave birth to him and didn’t really know what to do with him. She was hand reared; she never had a child before; she had never been around other gorillas³ that have a baby so she really didn’t know any of the procedure. She didn’t know what to do.

 Wild gorillas, on the other hand, have plenty of role models.

 I often tell people of the human, has never seen a baby and never seen, you know, anything on TV, or books about a baby, and have a baby, they probably wouldn’t know what to do either. We just take it for granted that, so much around us teaches us what we need to know. And they are really about the same way; they need to learn most of things they know.

 With his own mom unable to care for him, the task of rearing little Wumundi has fallen on keepers like Mandy Hollingsworth. But he is not being raised to be like his mother. Instead of treating Wumundi like a human baby, Mandy is acting⁴ like a gorilla mom.

 He used to ride on our stomachs when he was little. And now he’s moved onto the back which is how he would be with his mom too. And he likes sit on our backs, gravitates on its sides, so it’s not as much of a struggle to hold on as when he was on the front. Getting him back there is toughest time, but once he is up, he is good. Wear knee pads, because it’s hard on knees, crawling around all day. And you know we climb around. We’re not as good as the gorillas are, but we try.

 Mandy is one of free keepers who care for little Wumundi in the gorilla enclosure every day. The team of 17 volunteers take on night duty. He’s never left alone, just like a baby gorilla in the wild. And he can see, smell and touch other gorillas, although separated by a fence.

 When in the past, they may have been dressed up in clothes, even in addition to wearing diapers, now we are trying to treat them more like a gorilla so they know that they are gorillas, and it creates a lot less confusion in their minds. And in the gorilla troop’s mind when they get him back, he really is one of them, he is not a hairy human.

 The bottle-fed baby has started to eat solid foods. And he is gradually being introduced to the troop, including his father, Rafiki.

 He shows a lot interest in the baby especially did at first. Now he doesn’t come over and touch him or anything, but he sits close, he definitely knows that’s his baby.

 The keepers hope that by the time he is a year old and no longer accustomed to nursing, he will form a bond with one of the more experienced female gorillas. She would be his adopted mom through adolescence⁵.

 Wumundi will likely stay with the troop until he is 5 or 6 years old. Then he may pose a challenge to his father Rifiki, and have to be moved to another zoo. Until then, Wumnundi and his keepers are a popular exhibit.

 You know just people watching you do everything, I mean they watch you sleep, they watch you crawl around with them. And, I don’t know, it can be nerve-wracking sometimes. You know, people try to get your attention, and you know they will knock on the glass, and that’s I guess how the gorillas probably feel too.

 Little Wumnudi has the undivided attention of a group of humans who know a bit about what it’s like to be an ape.

Cheyenne

The capital of Wyoming, in the southeast part of the state near the Nebraska and Colorado borders. It was founded in 1867 as a division point for the Union Pacific Railroad. Population, 50,008.

夏延：怀俄明州首府，位于州的东南部且接近内布拉斯加州与科罗拉多州的边界，作为联合太平洋铁路的一个分界点而始建于1867年。人口50,008

gravitate to/towards

to be attracted to something and therefore move towards it or become involved with it.
Most visitors to London gravitate to Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square.

nerve-wracking

a nerve-racking situation makes you feel very nervous or worried.

1 gorilla   

n.大猩猩，暴徒，打手

参考例句：

• I was awed by the huge gorilla.那只大猩猩使我惊惧。
• A gorilla is just a speechless animal.猩猩只不过是一种不会说话的动物。

2 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

3 gorillas   

n.大猩猩( gorilla的名词复数 )；暴徒，打手

参考例句：

• the similitude between humans and gorillas 人类和大猩猩的相像
• Each family of gorillas is led by a great silverbacked patriarch. 每个大星星家族都由一个魁梧的、长着银色被毛的族长带领着。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

5 adolescence   

n.青春期，青少年

参考例句：

• Adolescence is the process of going from childhood to maturity.青春期是从少年到成年的过渡期。
• The film is about the trials and tribulations of adolescence.这部电影讲述了青春期的麻烦和苦恼。