HONG KONG — Australian officials have responded to criticism from animal rights activists¹ and celebrities², including the former actress Brigitte Bardot and the singer Morrissey, that a government plan to protect threatened species by killing³ millions of feral cats is unnecessarily cruel.

香港——一群动物权益维护者和名人，包括息影演员碧姬·芭铎(Brigitte Bardot)和歌手莫里西(Morrissey)，批评澳大利亚政府打算捕杀数百万只野猫以保护濒危物种的计划是不必要的残忍之举。就此，澳大利亚官员做出了回应。

Gregory Andrews, Australia’s threatened species commissioner⁴, has written open letters to Ms. Bardot and Morrissey saying that feral cats prey⁵ on more than 100 of the country’s threatened species and that they were a “major contributor” to the extinction⁶ of at least 27 mammal species in the country over the past 200 years.

澳大利亚濒危物种委员格雷戈里·安德鲁斯(Gregory Andrews)给芭铎和莫里西写了公开信，文中表示，野猫会捕食澳大利亚的逾百个濒危物种，在过去200年里，它是导致澳大利亚起码27种哺乳动物灭绝的“元凶”。

He called some of the extinct species, such as the lesser⁷ bilby, desert bandicoot, crescent nailtail wallaby and big-eared hopping⁸洠漀甀猀攀, “delightful⁹ creatures, rich in importance in Australian Indigenous¹⁰ culture, and formerly¹¹ playing important roles in the ecology of our country. We don’t want to lose any more species like these.”

他把小兔耳袋狸、荒漠袋狸、新月甲尾袋鼠和大耳弹鼠等已灭绝的物种称作“可爱的生物”，指它们“在澳大利亚土著文化中极为重要，以前在我国的生态环境里也扮演了重要的角色。我们不希望再失去这样的物种。”

The Australian Department of the Environment says that feral cats are the biggest threat to the country’s mammals, ahead of foxes and habitat loss. The government plan would use poison and traps to kill the cats.

澳大利亚环境保护部称，野猫是该国哺乳动物物种的最大威胁，比狐狸和失去生境造成的威胁更大。政府计划用毒药和诱捕装置来杀野猫。

In announcing the plan in July, Greg Hunt, the environment minister, said that he wanted to see two million feral cats culled¹² by 2020. Australia has an estimated 20 million feral cats, which are an invasive species brought by European settlers. Calls to exterminate¹³ the cats have been floated before, including one in the 1990s that called for killing all feral cats by 2020.

环境保护部长格雷格·亨特(Greg Hunt)在今年7月公布这项计划时说，希望到了2020年的时候捕杀的野猫数量可达两百万。澳大利亚目前估算存在两千万只野猫，是以前欧洲移民引入的入侵物种。根除野猫的倡议以前就一直有，其中包括90年代的那次呼吁在2020年前杀光所有野猫的提议。

When the current plan was announced, Ms. Bardot, 81, the French actress well known for her work in animal rights campaigns, wrote that the plan was “a scandal, a shame.”

81岁的法国演员芭铎以热心投入动物权益保护活动而闻名。当政府宣布目前的计划时，她撰文指计划是“丑闻和耻辱”。

“This animal genocide is inhuman¹⁴ and ridiculous,” she said, arguing that Australia should neuter feral cats rather than kill them.

“这样的动物大屠杀是非人道和荒谬的，”她说道，并认为澳大利亚政府应该替野猫绝育，而不是捕杀。

Morrissey, an English pop star, called the Australian government “a committee of sheep-farmers who have zero concerns about animal welfare or animal respect.” He said the cats that would be killed are “2 million smaller versions of Cecil The Lion,” a reference to the controversial killing of a lion in Zimbabwe in July by an American dentist.

英国流行歌星莫里西称澳大利亚政府为“毫不关心动物福祉或尊严的牧羊农户组成的委员会”。7月份时，津巴布韦的明星狮子西塞尔被一名美国牙医猎杀，引起争议。莫里西说，被捕杀的野猫将会是“两百万只小型版的西塞尔”。

Mr. Andrews’s response did not say why the Australian authorities were choosing to kill the cats over neutering them. He did say the government’s plan was supported by “the overwhelming majority of key environmental nongovernment organizations,” including the World Wildlife Fund and the Nature Conservancy.

在回应中，安德鲁斯没有提及澳大利亚政府为何选择捕杀野猫而非替其绝育。但他说，“绝大多数重要的非政府环保组织”支持政府的计划，其中包括世界自然基金会(World Wildlife Fund)和大自然保护协会(Nature Conservancy)。

“The greatest impact of feral cats occurs across Australia’s vast deserts, rugged¹⁵ mountains, forests and savannas¹⁶: remote and often inaccessible¹⁷ landscapes that are home to our native wildlife,” he added.

他还说：“野猫对澳大利亚广袤的沙漠、崎岖的山脉、森林和热带草原都有巨大的影响。而这些人类通常难以抵达的偏远地方正是本土野生动物的栖息地。”