老虎當寵物，是福還是禍？

當你某日去美國旅游，看到街上或是林間小道上有人牽著一只小老虎在遛彎，請不要大驚小怪！因為養大型貓科動物當寵物，在美國已經不是什么稀罕事了。雖然這看起來很酷，但是我們需要思考一些問題：對人類來說，養野生動物當寵物是否安全？對動物來說，這又是否真的是它們的福音？

By Justin O’neill

肖書 注

Florida teen Felicia Frisco loves her cat, Will. She cuddles[1] with him, plays with him, and feeds him. Until his first birthday, Will slept with Felicia every night.

It sounds like Felicia has a typical cat, right? Not quite. For one thing, he’s enormous[2]. When fully grown, he’ll weigh around 500 pounds (226 kilogram).

Will is a Bengal tiger[3].

Cute but Deadly

Six in 10 Americans own some type of pet — a dog, a cat, or maybe a hamster[4]. Such animals are “domesticated,” meaning that, over time, their species has been bred to live among humans.[5] Will, however, is an “exotic[6] pet,” that is, a wild animal. According to some estimates, as many as 18 million Americans own exotic pets, from iguanas to monkeys to kangaroos.[7]

Why would you want to own a wild animal — especially one that could eat you? There are lots of reasons. Owning an exotic pet can be a way to express your personality. For some, these pets are status symbols — a way to show off.[8]

But that can backfire[9]. Just look at Paris Hilton. In 2005, she adopted a kinkajou, a small mammal native to Central and South America.[10] She loved going out on the town with “Baby Luv” — until one day, Baby Luv bit her so deeply that she had to go to the hospital.

Hilton made a full recovery, but she was lucky. Exotic pets can turn on[11] their owners at any moment. The thing about wild animals is...they’re wild. They have instincts we can’t always predict or control.[12] And, exotic pets may carry deadly diseases that spread to humans.

The danger these animals pose isn’t the only problem with keeping them, though. Animal rights advocates say it’s downright cruel to remove animals from their natural habitats.[13] Wild monkeys, birds, and big cats are used to walking several miles per day, not living in a cage or doing circles in someone’s yard.

A Lot of Work

Nevertheless, exotic pets can sometimes make wonderful companions.[14] As professional animal handlers[15], Felicia’s parents are well-qualified to give Will a good life. But not everyone is so knowledgeable.

The fact is, exotic pets are a lot of work and a lot of money. (Felicia’s parents spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on Will every year.) As a result, many owners end up neglecting or even abandoning their animals.

For years, people have been dumping their pet pythons in Florida Everglades when the snakes get too big.[16] Today, their numbers are growing and they are eating more and more natural wildlife. As a result, they are changing the entire ecosystem of the Everglades.

Despite the risks, many Americans are willing to pay big bucks for an exotic pet. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service[17], 650 million were imported legally from 2003 to 2006. Countless more are smuggled[18] into the U.S. illegally.

As for Felicia and Will? Some experts say a tiger should not share a bed with a person. Zookeeper Jack Hanna compares it to sleeping with a bomb. But Felicia isn’t concerned[19]. She says that raising Will is “kind of like raising a dog.”

Yeah...kind of.

Vocabulary

1. cuddle: （尤指表示喜愛而）抱，擁抱。

2. enormous: 巨大的，龐大的。

3. Bengal tiger: 孟加拉虎。成年的孟加拉虎可以長到2.4米至3米長，重達200公斤左右。它主要以鹿、羚羊和野牛為食，在中國被列為國家一級重點保護野生動物。cat也有“大型貓科動物”的意思。一般情況下人們將大型貓科動物稱作“big cat”，以與貓區分開來。但此文作者為了制造一個懸念，所以在第一段時將Will說成是cat。

4. hamster: 倉鼠。

5. domesticated: 家養的，馴養的；breed: 過去分詞bred，飼養，培育。

6. exotic: 異乎尋常的。

7. iguanas: 鬣蜥，一種產于南美洲和西印度群島的大蜥蜴；kangaroo: 袋鼠。

8. status symbol: 地位的象征；show off: 炫耀，賣弄。

9. backfire: （內燃機等）發生逆火，發生回火，引申義是指產生事與愿違的結果。

10. adopt: 收養；kinkajou: 蜜熊，是生活在雨林中的一種浣熊，有鋒利的牙齒，以果實為主要食物，但在某些情況下會變得極具攻擊性；mammal: 哺乳動物。

11. turn on sb.: 突然襲擊某人，惡劣地對待某人。

12. instinct: 本能，天性；predict: 預測，預知。

13. advocate: 支持者，倡導者；downright: 徹頭徹尾的，完全的；natural habitat: 自然棲息地。

14. nevertheless: 雖然如此，不過；companion: 同伴，陪伴者。

15. animal handler: 動物訓練員，動物馴養員。

16. dump: 拋棄，丟棄；python: 蟒蛇；Florida Everglades: 佛羅里達大沼澤地，是位于美國佛羅里達州南部的亞熱帶沼澤地，被列為世界上最重要的三個濕地之一。

17. the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: 美國漁業與野生動物局，是美國內政部中專門管理漁業、野生動植物及其自然棲息地的國家機關。

18. smuggle: 走私，偷運。

19. concerned: 擔憂的，不安的。

（來源：英語學習雜志 編輯：中國日報網英語點津 陳丹妮）