是什么让老虎吃人？

The way that we live on Earth is causing an unprecedented acceleration in species extinction. Now, more than half a million species “have insufficient habitat for long-term survival” and are likely to go extinct unless their natural environments are restored. But we are already seeing major problems from this intrusion, not least through an increase in human-animal conflict.

人类在地球的生活方式正加速物种灭绝。现在，50多万物种因没有足够的栖息地而面临生存困难，除非它们的自然环境得到恢复，否则很可能灭绝。随着动物生存领地的缩减，动物入侵问题已日益凸显，人类与动物之间的冲突也明显增加。

A case in evidence is that of Avni, a “man-eating” Indian tigress who achieved something close to global recognition at the end of 2018. Man-eating leopards, lions, and tigers aren’t uncommon in India—several are killed or captured annually. But Avni achieved fame when a designer cologne was used in an attempt to lure her into a trap. Sadly, the bait failed and she was ultimately hunted down and killed.

以Avni——那只“吃人”的印度母老虎为例。吃人的豹子、狮子和老虎在印度其实并不罕见，每年都有几只被捕杀或捕获。但是Avni比较出名，诱捕者准备用古龙香水引诱她，结果没有成功，最后Avni被猎杀。这也使Avni在2018年底火遍全球。

This tragic tale of a tigress gone rogue unleashed a range of debates on the ethics of hunting, the pragmatics of capture, and the elitism of urban conservationists who were furious at her killing. What was somewhat missing from the discussion was the question of what made Avni the tigress into a man-eater in the first place.

这个虎妞出逃的悲惨故事引发了一系列关于狩猎伦理、捕获的实用主义以及城市环保精英主义的争论，他们对虎妞的死感到愤怒。讨论遗漏了一个问题，那就是是什么把Avni变成了一个吃人的动物。

The reasons why big cats turn on humans are complex and can be specific to individuals. But they can no longer be explained outside the context of climate change. Biodiversity depletion, habitat loss, extreme weather events, and a greater struggle over natural resources are affecting how animals live across the entire Indian subcontinent, and indeed the world. We should look to the case of Avni not for the peculiar baiting method, but rather for what her life and death tells us about the climate crisis.

大型猫科动物攻击人类的原因很复杂，而且可能因人而异。但它们再也无法在气候变化的背景之外得到解释。生物多样性的丧失、栖息地的丧失、极端天气事件以及对自然资源的争夺，正在影响着整个印度次大陆乃至整个世界的动物生活方式。人类应该关注Avni的案例，不是因为什么古龙香水，而是她的生与死告诉了我们什么。

Human land and tiger land

人类的领地和老虎的领地

Commonsensically, we assume a distinction between “human land” and “animal land”, or spaces that are human-dominated and those that are reserved for animals. There are, of course, landscapes that are more amenable to the habitation of big cats. Leopards are temperamentally comfortable in scrub forests, for example, and tigers were thought to prefer dense forests. But this distinction between spaces is becoming increasingly artificial, especially in densely populated countries like India.

从常识上讲，我们认为“人类的领地”和“动物的领地”是区分开的，即人类占主导地位的空间和为动物保留的空间。当然，有些地区更适合大型猫科动物居住。例如，豹子在灌木丛中性情温和，而老虎更喜欢茂密的森林。但这种空间的分界正变得越来越人为，尤其是在像印度这样人口稠密的国家。

We are now finding increasing evidence of tigers and leopards in human dominated landscapes all over India. Avni was, it is widely agreed, not born in a tiger reserve. She was born in what is called a non-tiger zone or, sometimes, human-land. But she was described as venturing onto human land—farms, village outskirts, even the villages themselves—and preying on humans and their livestock. There is an incredulity to such appearances, which are described as the tiger or leopard “straying”, “escaping”, or “intruding”.

越来越多的证据表明，在印度，老虎和豹子生活以人类为主的地区。人们发现，Avni并非出生在老虎区。她出生在所谓的“非老虎区”，也就是“人类的领地”。但她被描述为冒险进入人类的农田，村庄郊区，甚至进入村子——吃人和牲畜。这种被描述为老虎或豹子“迷路”、“逃跑”或“入侵”的现象令人难以置信。

But the fact of the matter is that sightings of big cats in urban backyards are no longer aberrations in India, and they are only set to grow. As urban areas expand out, afforestation continues apace, and with some minor successes in tiger and leopard conservation, humans will need to be prepared to more openly share land with big cats.

但事实是，在印度，在主城边缘看到大型猫科动物不再反常，而且只会越来越多。随着城市面积的扩大，植树造林继续迅速进行，在老虎和豹子的保护方面也取得了一些小小的成功，人类将做好准备更公开地与大型猫科动物生活在同一片土地。