Jacki Lyden （Host）： Of all the worlds birds， perhaps

none are more mystical than 1）cranes.

（Soundbite of Cranes）

Lyden： Thats the 2）unison call of the red-crowned crane，

a mated pair calling out to each other.

（Soundbite of Cranes）

Lyden： From Asia to North America， these tall birds with their haunting cries have been woven into paintings， literature， folk tales. But today， 10 of the worlds 15 crane species are threatened， some on the brink of extinction.

Their grass and wetland habitats are being devastated all the world over. The International Crane Foundation is working to change that. Based in Wisconsin， the ICF turns 40 this year. George Archibald founded it with another young 3）ornithologist on a family farm near Baraboo.

George Archibald is still caring for cranes around the world， and he joins us from a field 4）expedition outside Ulan Bator， Mongolia. George， tell us a little bit about the species. What are these birds like？

George Archibald： Cranes are man-sized birds. Most of them are four to five feet tall. Theyre 5）monogamous. Nothing they do is without grace. The 6）common denominator in cranes is that they are long-legged， long-necked birds with very big voices. Their voice can be heard for several miles on a still morning.

The Wisconsin environmentalist philosopher Aldo Leopold writing back in 1935 wrote so 7）eloquently about cranes. And one of the sentences he wrote is： The silence 8）discernible in some wetlands perhaps arises from their once having harbored cranes. Now they stand humbled 9）adrift in history.

When you see a 10）marsh without cranes， its very silent. When a crane is in a marsh， and they call， theres this great spirit that lifts up in that area and brings life and meaning to the whole place. Lyden： What is the sound of the 11）whopping crane？

Archibald： Its woopdoop-doop， woopdoop-doop， woopdoop-doop. And the doop-doop is the female， and the woop is the male. Thats their 12）duet.

Lyden： Ah. And they also do this incredible mating dance， right？

Archibald： Yes. They throw sticks in the air， they jump high in the air， they run in circles， and theyll run side by side. Then theyll actually jump into the air， go for a distance， land and continue to circle and bow. And it must be quite exhausting.

Lyden： I have visited the International Crane Foundation， and what you say about the stately graceful way these creatures walk really resonates. They all have this incredible， beautiful waltz of a walk. George， at the International Crane Foundation， you have， I believe its an African grey-crowned crane with a big 13）pouf on its head named Slidel. I believe this bird is from Kenya， a place where youve had some success at their restoration.

Archibald： Yes. Theyre from East Africa. Were very concerned about the beautiful cranes of Africa， particularly the crowned cranes. Theyre being captured illegally and sent to the estates of the wealthy in the Middle East and to 14）safari parks in China and to animal dealers in Europe. Weve had an 80% decline of the birds in East Africa， but we have had some successes too. Lyden： Tell me about the cranes that live in the 15）demilitarized zone between North and South Korea.

Archibald： The demilitarized zone between North and South Korea is about four kilometers wide and has several valleys where about one-third of the worlds red-crowned cranes spend the winter， and where about one-half of the worlds whitenaped cranes—thats about 3，000 birds—spend the months of October， November and February， March. Its a wildlife paradise because its a no-mans land. But unfortunately， there are plans 16）afoot to develop the lowland areas into factory zones to provide jobs for North Koreans through South Korean-built factories.

As long as tensions remain high between North and South Korea， the cranes are fine. But should things soften， the South Koreans have all these development plans on the table.

Lyden： In a sense， is it possible to talk about the health of the planet， the biodiversity that remains through the lives of creatures like the cranes？

Archibald： Oh， sure. Large 17）vertebrates are very good indicators of the health of our environment， and cranes， particularly， because they require wide expanses of wetlands and grasslands. And if the cranes disappear， we know that something i s w r o n g i n t h a t environment.

Lyden： Why do you think that cranes are so 18）revered culturally？ Im thinking of the 19）Kimonos of Japan—youre on your way to Japan—Im thinking of the thousand paper cranes， the symbol of peace at Hiroshima. What is it？

Archibald： Well， theyre simply beautiful creatures， and they live a long time. They live 20 to 30 years in the wild. And in 20）captivity， they can live into the ripe old age of 60 or so. They breed very slowly. They 21）lavish care on their young， which is a value embraced by many people. And theyre about our size， in many cases， so we can identify with them. And when you have beautiful things in your environment， you want to paint them， you want to make stories about them， you want to dance like them. Cranes are one of the few birds that really know how to dance.

杰姬·利登（主持人）：世界上的所有鳥

類中，或許沒有比鶴類更神秘的鳥了。

（鶴的叫聲）

利登：這是丹頂鶴的齊鳴，是配偶之間的互相呼喚。

（鶴的叫聲）

利登：從亞洲到北美洲，這些高大的鳥兒帶著他們那縈繞心頭的呼喚被編織進(jìn)了畫作上、文學(xué)作品中和民間故事里。但是今天，全球15種鶴類中就有10種受到了威脅，有些還瀕臨滅絕的邊緣。

全世界的草地和它們居住的濕地正遭受到破壞。國際鶴類基金會(huì)正致力于改善這一狀況?；匚挥谕箍敌侵莸膰H鶴類基金會(huì)今年已經(jīng)成立40周年，由喬治·阿其博和另一位鳥類學(xué)者在巴拉布市附近的一個(gè)家庭牧場(chǎng)建立。

喬治·阿其博現(xiàn)在仍然關(guān)心著全世界的鶴類，他從蒙古烏蘭巴托外的野外考察地加入到我們的討論。喬治，告訴我們一些有關(guān)這種鳥類的事情，這些鳥的樣子是怎樣的？

喬治·阿其博：鶴是像人一樣高大的鳥，它們絕大多數(shù)有四到五英尺高。它們終身一夫一妻制，它們所有的舉止都離不開優(yōu)雅。鶴類的共同點(diǎn)是它們都有長長的腿、長長的脖子，并且有非常響亮的嗓音。在寧靜的清晨，它們的聲音在幾英里以外都能聽到。

威斯康星州的環(huán)境哲學(xué)家奧爾多·利奧波德在1935年意味深長地寫過關(guān)于鶴類的作品，其中有個(gè)句子是這樣寫的：有些濕地的寂靜清晰可辨，可能是因?yàn)槟抢镌?jīng)居住過鶴鳥。如今它們只能孑然成為這些地方過去的一部分。

當(dāng)你看到一塊濕地沒有鶴，那里會(huì)很寂靜。當(dāng)鶴鳥在濕地上，它們的叫聲會(huì)讓那個(gè)區(qū)域充滿生氣，并為整個(gè)地方帶來生機(jī)和意義。

利登：這種大型鶴的叫聲是怎樣的？

阿其博：就是嗚啪——嘟啪——嘟啪，嗚啪——嘟啪——嘟啪，嗚啪——嘟啪——嘟啪（音譯），嘟啪——嘟啪是雌鶴的叫聲，嗚啪是雄鶴的叫聲，這是它們的齊鳴。利登：啊，它們還跳不可思議的求偶舞蹈，對(duì)嗎？

阿其博：沒錯(cuò)。它們向空中拋樹枝、在空中跳躍、轉(zhuǎn)著圈跑，而且是肩并肩地跑。接著它們會(huì)躍進(jìn)空中，飛過一段距離、著陸、繼續(xù)轉(zhuǎn)圈和屈伸脖子，那一定是很耗體能的活動(dòng)。

利登：我參觀過國際鶴類基金會(huì)的基地，對(duì)你所說的這些動(dòng)物高貴優(yōu)雅的行走方式真的很有共鳴。他們?nèi)慷加羞@些不可思議的、華麗的華爾茲舞步。喬治，在國際鶴類基金會(huì)的基地，你有一只，我相信是一只名叫斯萊得爾的非洲灰冠鶴，它的頭頂有一塊大肉髻。我相信這種鳥來自肯尼亞，在那里你們成功地修復(fù)了它們的生態(tài)環(huán)境。

阿其博：是的，它們來自東非。我們非常關(guān)注非洲那些美麗的鶴，特別是冠冕鶴。它們?cè)獾椒欠ú东C，被送到中東富豪人家的莊園里，中國的野生動(dòng)物園

里和歐洲的動(dòng)物商販那里。東非的鶴類已經(jīng)減少了80%，不過我們也有一些成功的案例。

利登：告訴我有關(guān)鶴類生活在朝鮮和韓國之間的非軍事區(qū)的情況。

阿其博：朝鮮和韓國之間的非軍事區(qū)大約有四公里寬，有幾處山谷，世界上大概1/3的丹頂鶴都在那里過冬，世界上大概一半的白枕鶴，也就是大概3000只，會(huì)在那里度過10月、11月、2月和3月。那里是野生動(dòng)植物的天堂，因?yàn)槟鞘侨僳E罕至的地方。但是很不幸，有計(jì)劃準(zhǔn)備由韓國建造工廠，把低地區(qū)域發(fā)展成工廠區(qū)以為朝鮮人提供就業(yè)機(jī)會(huì)。

只要朝鮮和韓國維持高度緊張局勢(shì)，鶴類仍是安全的。但是如果局勢(shì)有所緩和，韓國就會(huì)把這些發(fā)展計(jì)劃提上議程。

利登：在某種意義上，是否能通過生物如鶴類的生存來談及地球的健康和生物的多樣性？阿其博：哦，當(dāng)然能。大型脊椎動(dòng)物對(duì)我們的環(huán)境是否健康有很好的暗示作用，特別是鶴類，因?yàn)樗鼈冃枰獜V闊的大片濕地和草地。如果鶴類消失了，我們就知道那個(gè)環(huán)境出問題了。

利登：為什么你認(rèn)為從文化上鶴類是很神圣的？我想到了日本的和服——你在前往日本的路上——我想到了千紙鶴，在日本廣島那是和平的象征。具體是怎樣的？

阿其博：嗯，鶴類是美麗的生物，壽命很長。它們?cè)谝巴饽芑?0到30年。在圈養(yǎng)環(huán)境下，它們能活得很長壽，大概60歲。它們繁殖很緩慢，無私地關(guān)愛著自己的幼鶴，這也是很多人信奉的價(jià)值觀。在很多情況下，它們跟人一樣高大，所以我們跟它們有一些共同點(diǎn)。當(dāng)你所處的環(huán)境有這么美麗的東西，你就想描畫它們，撰寫有關(guān)它們的故事，還想象它們一樣翩翩起舞。鶴類是真正懂跳舞的少數(shù)鳥類中的一種。