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Frogging safari is catching on
AMAZULU GAME RESERVE - They are voracious (
貪吃的 ) predators (食肉或食蟲的生 物 ) that make scores of (大量的 ) kills (獵獲物 ) each night , many are brilliantly coloured and few creatures can match them for raw agility (矯捷 ) and prowess (高超本領 ) .Yet not many visitors to South Africa's game peserves (
野生動物保護區 ) give much notice to the lowly (卑微的 ) frog , with lions , elephants and other big critters (動物 ) topping their list of "must see" animals .Alwyn Wentzel hopes to change this as he pioneers a novel (
新的 ) concept in ecotourism (生態旅遊 ) - frog safaris ."Frogging is physical , it's challenging . Unlike game (
野生動物 ) viewing or birding you have to get in there and get dirty , " Wentzel said as he sloshed ((踩着泥或 水)跋涉 ) through the muck (淤泥 ) in search of quarry (追逐的目標 ) , a headlamp lighting his way through the inky (漆黑的 ) darkness .The goal is simple and the same as bird watching : spot and identify as many frog species as you can in the run (
一段時間 ) of a night .The difference with bird watching is that you try and catch the animals in your hand to get a proper look at them before releasing them - which is no easy task and involves lots of sliding (
滑行 ) in the mud and splashing through water .And doing it at night in the Amazulu Game Reserve in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province has an added element of danger : this is a "Big 5" country , home to lion , leopard (
豹 ) , buffalo (水牛 ) , rhino (犀牛 ) and elephant , not to mention (更不用說 ) crocodiles .This means frogging is done with a . 375 rifle (
步槍 ) close at hand , with big spotlights shone over potential spots from the vehicle to see if any dangerous creatures are lurking (潛伏 ) in the vicinity (附近 ) ."We're not going to be doing much frogging here which is unfortunate as it's an ideal spot , " said Wentzel , pointing to a pair of young male lions sprawled on the muddy bank of a dam .
Undeterred (
不灰心的 ) , the search continued elsewhere ."Look out for crocodiles . If you see what looks like a tiny red light moving through the water , let me know , " said Wentzel as he ploughed into the reeds in the shallow part of a dam in search of painted reed frogs .
Tumbling (
跌跌撞撞地 走 ) through the foliage (葉 ) eventually brought succes ."This is a beautiful painted reed frog , " Wentzel said , holding the tiny black and yellow specimen up to the light before allowing it to escape from the palm of his hand .
The night's outing yielded eight species , including a banded rubber frog , a rarely seen red and black creature whose sharp colours warn predators that it is poisonous .
The most amazing sighting (
看見(尤指不尋常的事 物) ) was a tiny specimen in the throes (痛苦的掙扎 ) of metamorphosis (變態 ) between tadpole (蝌蚪 ) and adult frog . Hopping (跳 ) on land but still burdened by its aquatic (水生動物的 ) tail , it resembled a freakish (古怪 的 ) jumping lizard .Wentzel reckons (
估計 ) there are about 20 species on the 12 , 000 hectare reserve .Some enthusiasts (
愛好者 ) say frogs are of interest because of their crucial role in the ecosystem , their diversity and their astonishing athletic feats (技藝 ) . Several species can jump up to many times their own body length ."Wildlife lodges are asking for courses on frogs to take their guests out after dark to introduce them to frogs , " said Vincent Carruthers , who has written several guide books to frogs in South Africa .
Carruthers said South Africa alone was home to about 110 species of frogs and toads (
蟾蜍 ) ."They are very large consumers of insects but in turn are preyed upon (
捕食 ) themsleves by birds and snakes , so they sit midway up the food chain . That makes them an important group to monitor the environmental health of a region , " he said .Frogs also have a highly permeable (
可滲透的 ) skin which makes them extremely sensitive to changes in freshwater (淡水 ) and air quality .The signals they are sending are troubling .
A major study released late last year - the Global Amphibian (
兩棲動物 ) Assessment - estimated that about one third of the 5 , 743 known amphibian species were threatened with extinction . By comparison , only 12 % of bird and 23 % of mammal (哺乳類 ) species are endangered . Reuters ① Frogging 在這裏指 「 觀蛙 」 。 Safari 指 「 (非洲的)旅 遊、遊獵 」 。