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Florida wildlife officials say manatees facing starvation are benefitting from a program that feeds them tons of donated lettuce.
佛罗里达州野生动植物官员说，面临饥饿的海牛正受益于一个项目，该项目向它们提供了数吨捐赠的生菜。
The program aims to save as many of the large animals as possible as water pollution led to shortages of their favorite food, seagrass.
该项目旨在拯救尽可能多的大型动物，因为水污染导致它们最喜欢的食物海草短缺。
Officials say the human-caused pollution results from activities related to agriculture, waste from cities and other causes.
官员们表示，人类造成的污染是由与农业相关的活动、城市垃圾和其他原因造成的。
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service oversees the feeding program, which is carried out near a Florida Power & Light power center on Florida's central-east coast.
美国鱼类及野生动植物管理局负责监督这个喂食项目，该项目在位于佛罗里达州中东海岸的佛罗里达电力照明公司附近进行。
So far, the effort has provided the manatees with more than 25 tons of lettuce.
到目前为止，这项努力已经为海牛提供了超过25吨生菜。
Officials say the feedings usually draw about 300 to 350 manatees per day.
官员们说，喂食通常每天会吸引大约300到350头海牛。
Sometimes, as many as 800 show up.
有时，会出现多达800头。
"We're making a difference," said Ron Mezich, from Florida's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
佛罗里达州鱼类及野生动植物保护委员会的罗恩·梅奇说：“我们正在做出改变。”
He spoke recently during an online news conference about the program.
他最近在一次线上新闻发布会上谈到了这个项目。
"It gives us the greatest exposure to the greatest number of animals," he said.
他说：“它让我们接触到最多动物”。
Last year, a record 1,101 manatee deaths were reported, largely from starvation.
去年，据报道有创纪录的1101头海牛死亡，大部分是死于饥饿。
The normal five-year average is about 625 deaths.
海牛正常的五年平均死亡数量约为625头。
State wildlife officials say that so far this year, 164 manatee deaths have been recorded.
州野生动植物官员说，今年到目前为止，已经记录了164头海牛死亡。
Tom Reinert is the local director of the state's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
汤姆·莱因特是该州鱼类及野生动植物保护委员会的当地主任。
He is also a spokesman for the state-federal effort to save manatees.
他也是州和联邦拯救海牛行动的发言人。
Reinert said the feeding program has helped to reduce the rising death rates.
莱因特说，该喂食项目有助于降低不断上升的死亡率。
"We are adjusting our program to get as much food to manatees as we can."
“我们正在调整我们的计划，以便尽可能多地为海牛提供食物。”
Normally, wildlife experts advise against people feeding wild animals.
通常情况下，野生动植物专家建议人们不要喂食野生动物。
This is because it can lead the animals to make an unhealthy connection between humans and food.
这是因为它会导致野生动物在人类和食物之间产生不健康的联系。
It is a crime in Florida for a person to feed manatees on their own, even though officials say many people want to do so.
在佛罗里达州，人们私自喂食海牛是犯罪行为，尽管官员们表示很多人都想这样做。
Reinert believes the best ways people can help are to donate money, through an official organization, or to report any sick or struggling animals.
莱因特认为，人们能提供帮助的最好方式是通过官方组织捐款，或者报告任何生病或挣扎的动物。
"Feed them with your dollars," he said.
他说：“用你们的钱喂它们”。
Officials estimate there are about 8,800 manatees in Florida waters.
官员们估计，佛罗里达海域约有8800头海牛。
That is a big improvement from about 2,000 that existed in the 1990s.
与20世纪90年代存在的约2000头相比，这是一个很大的进步。
The increased numbers were responsible for manatees being removed from a federal endangered list.
海牛数量的增加是将海牛从联邦濒危物种名单中移除的原因。
Currently, they are listed as threatened.
目前，它们被列为受威胁物种。
Reinert said that even with the most recent die-off, there is only about a 1 percent chance of manatees disappearing in the wild.
莱因特说，即使有最近的死亡事件，海牛在野外消失的几率也只有1%左右。
The most important element for supporting the remaining population will be restoring seagrass beds, he added.
他补充说，维持剩余海牛的最重要因素将是恢复海草床。
So far, Florida has set aside $8 million to deal with that problem.
到目前为止，佛罗里达州已经拨出800万美元来解决这个问题。
"You can't just go out and plant a bunch of seagrass," Reinert said.
莱因特说：“你不能只是出去种一堆海草。”
But, he added, "projects are getting started and are in the planning stages."
但是，他补充说，“项目将要启动，正处于规划阶段。”
I'm Bryan Lynn.
布莱恩·林恩为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
