微笑的短尾矮袋鼠:世界上最開心的萌物
When it comes to cute animal pictures, there's no beating this cheeky creature, who may as well have wandered straight out of a feel-good kids' movie.
要論起最可愛的動物圖片的話，沒有什麼比得上這種“厚臉皮”的生物，說不定它就是直接從電影裏蹦出來的：活像一個自我感覺良好的小孩！Meet the Quokka, a marsupial that seems to have come straight from an animator at Disney, but is actually native to a small corner of southwestern Australia.
短尾矮袋鼠是種有袋類哺乳動物，看起來就好像是迪士尼裏的卡通形象一樣，而它實際上是澳大利亞西南角一小塊區域的一種特有動物。Unlike a frightening number of Australian animals, the Quokka poses no threat to humans, and -- as these pictures make abundantly clear -- can be quite friendly.
在澳大利亞，能對人類構成威脅的動物多得可怕，但短尾矮袋鼠卻不具有威脅力，而且，正如照片裏看起來的那樣，它們非常友好。
That friendliness may partially explain why, according to the Perth Zoo, the once-plentiful Quokka was drastically reduced in number after the dingo and foxes found their way to Australia.
根據澳大利亞珀斯動物園的說法，正是因爲它們很友好，也在一定程度上可以解釋了：爲什麼在澳洲野狗和狐狸來到澳大利亞後，一度衆多的短尾矮袋鼠數量急劇下降。The animal is currently listed as "vulnerable," according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Thanks to conservation efforts and fox control programs, their populations are recovering in some areas.
世界自然保護聯盟瀕危物種紅色名錄目前將短尾矮袋鼠列爲“中度瀕危物種” 。多虧了保護措施和控制狐狸數目的項目，短尾矮袋鼠數量在某些地區正在恢復。I went to Rottnest island a couple years ago, these things are everythere! I went for a run at nights, and I tripped over one and he just looked at me, smiled and kept going about his business.
幾年前我去過一次澳大利亞的洛特尼斯島，這種短尾矮袋鼠到處都是！我晚上出去跑步的時候被一隻小傢伙給絆倒了。它微笑地看了看我，然後繼續自己該幹嘛幹嘛去了。First time I went to Rottnest I didn't know you had to hide your food in the chalets. I got home one day to find quokkas had gotten in through the back door and had eaten all the chocolate biscuits.
第一次去洛特尼斯島的時候，我還不知道得把食物藏起來，一天我回家，發現短尾矮袋鼠從後門溜進來了，吃光了我所有的巧克力餅乾。
