2005年NPR美国国家公共电台五月-Jim and Jamie Dutcher, 'Living with Wolve（在线收听） |
| Wolves have been cast as villains in stories -- almost since there have been stories. Jesus warned against them in the Bible; Little Red Riding Hood was tormented by one. They've been favorite symbols of evil from Aesop to Prokofieff. A new documentary shatters many lupine myths-- and shows just how much like people wolves can be. Jim and Jamie Dutcher are the husband-and-wife team behind Living with Wolves. It premieres tonight on the Discovery Channel and the Dutchers join us from Caher, Idaho. Jennifer: Welcome. Jamie Dutcher: Thanks for having us , Jennifer. Jim Dutcher: Thank you, Jennifer. Jennifer: Jim, let's start with you, because that’s where the story does begin. It's in 1990. You got a permit to set up a wolf observation camp in the Sawtooth Mountains there in Idaho, where you and, and later Jamie came to live with you. You were there until 1996. Why did you first want to study wolf behavior? Jim Dutcher: Well, I've always been interested in animals—— they are, elusive, shy. And telling a story about an animal that has been misunderstood, I found it to be very intriguing. Jennifer: And Jamie, you were in Washington D.C., before you join Jim. Jamie Dutcher: I was. Jennifer: He was writing you letters telling you what he was doing. What did you think? Jamie Dutcher:I really hadn't experienced mountains like this before, or snow and cold like this before. But it was so breathtakingly beautiful, and then to finally meet the wolves was an incredibly special moment. I was a little bit concerned that what they are gonna think of me, but I had been working at the National Zoo in Washington D.C., and knew a lot about animals and animal behavior, and just a kind of let it all unfold and let them come to me. And let, it , it was fine and I was accepted quite well. Jennifer: So,as you both are watching these wolves, you are trying to stay at the sidelines and observe them. You describe a very intricate social structure. I mean tell me about the social structure that you see. Jim Dutcher: Well,at the top of a pack of wolves is an Alpha pair : a male and a female. Now they are the ones that make all the decisions. Where to cross the rivers? Which animal to prey upon? And they are the only two that mate. If there is a lots game, the Beta wolf which is just under the Alpha will get a chance to mate. Then,there are mid -ranking wolves in the middle of a pack. They jostle back and forth to be on top of one another. There's always lots of squabbling during the feeding on carcasses that we would l bring them road chaos, deer, elk and, antelope. And at the bottom of the pack is the Omega. And We've always ,sort of, had a warm spot in our hearts form the Omega, because they are so picked on. It's really sad, but they have a very important position in the pack. They instigate play, kind of, defuses pack tension. And they get a game of tag going, pull tail, and things like that. And it was during one occasion when we had a wolf that was the omega that she went missing. And we found her and she had been killed. What happened next was what surprised us, is the pack, they mourn the loss of this wolf. They stopped playing for six weeks. They sort of mope around and howl as if trying to call her back. Jennifer: Jamie, you became a sound engineer for wolf camp. We have some of your recordings here. Let's listen to it a bit. (Listen to a part of wolf howling) Jim Dutcher: Sometimes the wolf would howl at night when we were sleeping and they would kind of talk back and forth to each other, like "Are you there? I'm here. How are things?" Whatever they were saying, I would have no idea. Jennifer: Well, these wolves were in an enclosed space, a very large one. But it was closed off. You brought them meat. Given that they were provided for that way, how honest do you think your observations of their lives were? Jamie Dutcher: Well, I think they’ve very accurately mimicked wolves in the wild. And what Jim and I wanted to do was really delve into this social life of wolves, and its hierarchies and camaraderie they had. And really what we learned is that you can watch wolves, and even though wolves are completely unrelated to us, humans. Our social lives, our family lives are so similar. Jennifer: What do you think the effect of your project is, if any, on the wolf population? Jamie Dutcher: I think it really has actually help quite a bit. A perfect example is we've had people come up to us, hunters. And they say “Jee, you know, I've always wanted to bag a wolf and I can't do it now. I didn't know they were family animals. I didn't know they are so social.” And to have that come from a hunter, you know, is huge. Jim Dutcher: At the end of the project, we have to move the wolves. Our permits with the US Forest Service had expired. And from the beginning I had a foundation that would take care of them and we had a deal with the Nesper tribe. When we had to say goodbye and move them up there. It was really, really sad because we had a bond with these animals. And we did say good-bye and they all came up to us, you know, licked our faces and we went our separate ways. And after about a year, we went back to see if the wolves would remember us and this is in the film. And it was so special because they did remember us, they were just like " oh, my! They are back again!” They jumped up on us, licked our faces, whined and whined. They just were so excited. It probably was the most special part of the whole project for me. Jennifer: Jim and Jamie Dutcher, are the husband-and-wife team behind Living with Wolves. It premieres tonight on the Discovery Channel and a companion book comes out later this month. Thank you both so much! Jim and Jamie Dutcher: Thank you! Thank you very much! To see photos of the Dutchers and their wolves you can go to our website: NPR.org. |
| 原文地址：http://www.tingroom.com/lesson/NPR2005/40553.html |