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Grizzly bears are an iconic symbol of wilderness, ecological integrity and of healthy, thriving landscapes across western North America.
灰熊是北美西部拥有大片原野、完整的生态以及健康、欣欣向荣的自然风光的标志性象征。
Grizzlies once roamed over a massive territory spreading over half the US up into Canada, and down into Mexico.
曾经，灰熊的足迹遍布上至加拿大，下至墨西哥的半个美国。
But between 1850 and 1920, the bears were hunted down to 95% of their original range.
然而，1850~1920年间，因为人类的猎杀，灰熊的活动范围已经缩小至原来的5%。
But now, a conservation initiative is succeeding in bringing those numbers back.
好在，如今，多亏了一项保护倡议，这一数字已经重新有了起色。
Some species are needier than others when it comes to survival.
就生存而言，某些物种的需求要比其他物种更多。
More than just the basics; food, water and shelter.
他们不止需要食物、水和栖地这些基本的生存条件。
They need wide ranges to roam, a vast diversity of things to eat, and even specific weather patterns to follow.
还需要大片可供其活动的区域，种类丰富的食物，甚至还需要特定的气候模式。
So, it makes sense that when the neediest species are doing well, the ecosystem benefits as a whole.
所以，说需求最多的物种都生活得很好的时候，整个生态系统也会跟着受益是有道理的。
Grizzly bears are a perfect example.
灰熊就是一个很好的例子。
If they're thriving in an area, that's a sign that lots of other species are thriving too.
如果它们在一个地方繁衍生息得很好，那就标志着不少其他物种也在当地繁衍生息得很好。
Their numbers have rebounded a bit since being added to the endangered species list in 1975.
自从1975年被列入濒危物种名单以来，灰熊种群的数量已经略有回升。
But the population remains fragmented in areas where the bears can no longer move or mix with each other.
不过，他们的种群依然还很分散，彼此之间无法相互走动，也无法互相融合。
"Grizzly populations get fragmented,
“灰熊种群很分散，
because people like us like to live, recreate, and develop in the places that grizzly bears also use.
因为我们人类喜欢在灰熊出没的地方生活、创造、发展。
That's a real problem, and the things that we do,
这才是问题的症结所在，我们的所作所为，
like building those roads and putting them in places that animals need
比如在他们的活动范围内修路啊，把它们圈起来啊，
create real problems for these wildlife populations,
才是真正威胁这些野生动物种群数量的因素，
all of that adds up and makes it really hard to coexist with big toothy carnivores like grizzly bears."
所有这些因素加起来，就导致我们和灰熊这样牙齿很厉害的食肉动物的共存变得非常艰难。”
That's where the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative comes in.
正因为如此，黄石到育空保护计划应运而生了。
They're one of the groups working to relink these isolated populations from Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming to the Yukon in northern Canada.
他们就是致力于将从怀俄明州的黄石国家公园到加拿大北部的育空地区之间的那些彼此隔绝的灰熊种群重新联系到一起的组织之一。
In doing so, they're restoring habitats, not just for grizzlies, but also for many other species.
他们的努力不止帮助灰熊恢复了栖地，还帮助恢复了很多其他物种的栖地。
"One of the reasons we need grizzly bears in a landscape is because they are something called an umbrella species.
“我们之所以需要灰熊存在于我们的某片土地上，部分原因在于它们就是那种所谓的‘伞护种’。
And that means, if you can keep grizzly bears in this landscape,
意思就是，如果你能保住这片土地上的灰熊，
you will inadvertently keep up to 16 other large and medium-sized mammals.
那就相当于你在无形之中保住了多达16种其他的大中型哺乳动物。
Others foxes, coyotes, lynx, wolves..."
其他比如狐狸，郊狼，山猫，狼这样的物种。”
And it's not just other predators that are under the grizzly umbrella.
而且，灰熊这一伞护种下面不止有其他捕食者。
It's also prey animals like big horn sheep and deer, and even flora like white bark pine trees.
还有大角羊和鹿这样的被捕食者，甚至还有白皮松树这样的植物系物种。
"We need a way of, saying this is the species we're gonna focus on most,
“我们需要想办法，比如，灰熊就是我们需要给予最多的关注，
not exclusively, but a lot of our efforts focus on grizzly bears,
倒也不是说只关注它，但起码是要投入大量的精力的物种，
because they are so important as this umbrella systems for the system."
因为对于这个生态系统下的这个伞护系统来说它的重要性是最突出的。”
Grizzlies are an ideal umbrella because they live in such diverse places throughout their lives.
灰熊其实是一个理想的伞护种，因为它们一辈子会走过很多地方。
"They use places like this river valley.
“他们会在这样的河谷生活。
They use the high alpine areas, and all forest in between."
会在高山地区生活，还会在河谷和高山之间的森林里生活。”
In its lifetime, a single bear may cover a home range as largest 3,883 square kilometers.
就其一生而言，一只灰熊的足迹能达到3883平方公里。
"So because they move over such big areas and they need a diversity of habitat.
“因为它们会穿越如此辽阔的面积，所以他们需要具有多样性的栖地。
Every year, and for their whole life, they're going to cover lots of the same areas that other animals live.
每年，它们一生中的每一年，它们都会经过很多其他动物生活的地方。
Finding these giant spaces for grizzly bears to move seems like a Herculean mission,
为灰熊寻找这样广阔的活动空间似乎是一项非常艰巨的任务。
and that's where the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative comes in.
这恰好也是黄石到育空保护计划（Y2Y）的用武之地。
They're a group of conservationists and scientists working to restore land all the way from Yellowstone to Yukon.
他们是一群致力于恢复从黄石到育空的灰熊栖地的自然资源保护者和科学家。
"When I was doing my undergraduate degree in biology, about 20 years ago.
大约20年前，我还在共度生物学本科学位的时候，
I remember learning about this big, bold plan that some conservationists and scientists and people who cared about the Rocky Mountains had,
我记得，就是那时候我知道了这个宏伟而大胆的计划，是一群自然资源保护者、科学家和关心落基山脉的人策划的，
and they wanted to connect and protect all this habitat from Yellowstone to Yukon,
他们想把从黄石到育空的这一大片栖地联系起来，保护起来，
and I just thought I thought two things.
当时我就只有两个念头。
One, that's amazing.
一，这也太棒了！
And two, that's crazy it's never gonna work."
二，但这也太夸张了，绝对不可能奏效的。”
The crazy thing though is that the plan is working, and the evidence is in the maps.
然而，让人感到疯狂的是，他们的计划已经开始奏效了，证据就在地图上。
"We are looking for these critical linkages that are either fractured or broken,
“我们正在寻找断裂的关键联系，
and we want to try to fix them.
想试着去修复。
So that animals can keep moving throughout there."
好让动物们能够在这一大片区域自由穿行。”
In the end, the goal is to be fully connected,
他们的最终目标就是把这一大片地区整个打通，
so that the bears in southern Wyoming meet the bears in northern Canada before their individual populations get too small.
让南边的怀俄明州的熊能跟北边的加拿大的熊在它们各自的种群变得小得无法继续维持之前能够相遇。
"For healthy populations, we need to have movement,
“种群要想健康发展，就要能活动开，
you need movements of animals so that they can find mates,
动物们需要四处活动，才能找到配偶，
so that they can breed, and we can have genetic diversity.
才能繁殖，才能拥有基因的多样性。
The alternative is that they'll be inbred,
否则就只能进行近亲繁殖，
and will get smaller and smaller populations that aren't gonna be able to withstand problems that come in the future."
种群就会越来越小，就无法承受住未来可能出现的问题。”
It's not just genetic problems that face grizzly populations where they become fragmented.
灰熊种群分散之后面临的不仅仅有遗传问题。
It also means that the bears are coming in contact with more roads and cars,
这还意味着它们势必要跟更多的公路和汽车打交道，
or that they're forced to enter into areas with humans.
或者被迫到人生活的地方觅食，
As changing temperatures and extreme weather events due to climate change continued to occur,
鉴于气候变化导致的温度变化和极端天气事件仍在继续发生，
plant communities and wildlife will move in search of more favorable climates.
未来，植物群落和野生动物都需要寻找更加适宜的气候环境。
Ecologists believe that the grizzlies are sure to follow.
生态学家认为灰熊肯定也会紧随其后。
"Animals need to move normally.
“动物本来就需要活动。
They need to move even more under climate change.
气候变化条件下就更需要活动了。
So we need to allow populations to be moving from sometimes from the south to the north,
所以，我们需要给它们机会，让这些种群在要从南方迁移到北方的时候能够真的迁移过去，
so that they can find the cool habitats and they're adapted to.
以便它们能找到更凉爽，更适宜它们生活的栖地。
It doesn't always take a giant reserved area like Banff National Park to serve as a wild space for animals.
动物的自然活动区域并不一定就要有班夫国家公园这种规模的保护区那么大。
"There are all kinds of wildlife corridors because there's all kinds of wildlife.
我们已经有各种各样的野生动物走廊了，因为不同地方的野生动物物种不一样。
In fact, the valley that we're in right now is an example of a wildlife corridor.
事实上，我们现在所在的山谷就是一个野生动物走廊。
So you've got this river behind me here and going out onto the floodplains
我们可以看到，我身后有条河一直延伸到漫滩那里，
that's going to be an area that is naturally easier for animals to move in,
那个地方动物们穿越起来会比较容易一些，
but then we get smaller ones too, like the wildlife overpasses
除了这个，我们还有更小一些的走廊，比如野生动物天桥，
that's in an area along the highway that's been fenced to keep animals off the highway to keep people safe and we drive on it."
这种天桥就是建在高速公路上那种，高速公路四周则用围栏围起来，以免动物闯上高速，从而保护行驶人群的安全的天桥。”
Once Y2Y helps create a new wildlife corridor,
Y2Y帮助建起了一条新的野生动物走廊后，
they'll carefully track how the grizzly bears and other species respond and whether they actually use the new space.
他们会仔细跟进灰熊及其他物种的反应，看他们是否真的有使用到新的空间。
"The research that's happening inside this national park on, on grizzly bears and other wildlife is super cool.
“这个国家公园正在开展的，针对灰熊和其他野生动物的研究真的超棒。
This all helps us to learn more about what animals need in places like this, and how we can live better with them,
这一研究能够帮助我们了解更多有关动物们在类似这样的地方的需求以及我们如何才能更好地跟它们相处，
so that could include hair snagging to tell us about the genetics.
比如，用卡住的毛发来开展遗传学研究。
It can include wildlife cameras that show where they go in
比如在野外安装摄像头，记录它们的足迹，
and what's their behavior, and how do people effect that?
它们的行为，以及人类的活动对它们的影响。
The latest studies show that the estranged populations of bears in the south and north
最新的研究表明，这次是彼此分居的南方熊和北方熊
are the closest to each other they've been in more than 100 years.
成了100多年来距离彼此最近的一次。
Not only are the Yellowstone girzzlies moving north,
不仅黄石公园的灰熊正在向北迁徙，
but the northern Grizzlies are moving south via the new wildlife corridors.
北边的灰熊也正在通过新的野生动物走廊向南迁徙。
"If we don't let them move in their natural corridors or we don't restore the broken corridors.
“如果我们不让它们穿越它们原来的天然走廊，也不修复已经破碎的走廊。
They will die.
这些种群最终就会消失的。
We will have populations that continue to get smaller and smaller,
他们的种群数量会变得越来越小，越来越小，
more and more isolated until they're gone.
种群之间越来越隔绝，直到他们从这个世界消失。
We think a lot about climate change,
我们对气候变化做了很多的思考，
and the work that we do to connect landscapes, is one of the critical things we can do to adapt to climate change.
打通这些土地的工作就是我们能做的，对适应气候变化至关重要的工作之一。
There are so many things that individuals can do to help with conservation
从个人的角度出发，助力环境保护也是有很多点可以入手的，
that ranges from you could spend your whole life doing this kind of work,
你既可以把自己的一生都奉献在这样的工作上，
or you can show up and help count bumblebees and plant trees."
也可以从亲自出马，帮忙清点大黄蜂的数量，帮忙种树这样的小事着手。”
