◎管淑平

As if Germany’s polar bear star Knut hasn’t had enough upheaval in his life, animal rights group PETA demanded that he should be castrated to avoid him inbreeding with his girlfriend Giovanna.

德國明星北極熊克努特這一生波折似乎還不夠多，動物權益團體「人道對待動物」要求克努特應被去勢，避免牠與女友「喬凡娜」近親交配。

Knut has been through a lot in his life. First he was abandoned by his mother, and animal rights campaigners called for him to be put down rather than being hand-reared. Then he shot to stardom and faced the stresses of being a superstar. As he grew and became steadily less cute came the loss of fame.

克努特這一生已歷經許多波折。牠先是被媽媽遺棄，動物權益運動人士要求將牠安樂死，而非被人工飼養。然後牠一夕爆紅，也面臨身為超級巨星的壓力。隨著牠日漸長大、越來越不可愛，名氣也跟著流失。

Things finally started looking up again last year for Knut, when he was introduced to a female companion, Giovanna from the Munich Zoo. Knut seemed to have found an equilibrium, a bit of peace.

去年對克努特來說，情況終於又開始好轉。牠有了來自慕尼黑動物園的女伴喬凡娜，克努特似乎找到了平靜。

And now this. PETA said that Giovanna and Knut had the same grandfather and that they would be inbreeding if they produced offspring, and "it reduces the genetic diversity."

現在來了這件事。PETA說，喬凡娜和克努特有共同的祖父，若生下後代，是近親繁殖，「會減少基因多樣性。」

But Berlin Zoo said "Giovanna will only stay here until her enclosure is ready in Munich." She is due to return home in the summer. That would leave Knut alone once again.

但是柏林動物園說，「喬凡娜只會在這裡待到牠慕尼黑的圈養區準備就緒為止。」牠預定今年夏天回家。這將讓克努特再次孤單。

新聞辭典：

inbreeding：名詞，近親交配。原形為inbreed（動詞）。例句：Inbreeding was quite common in European royal families earlier years to preserve the purity of bloodlines.（近親結婚在早年歐洲王室相當普遍，以保持血統純正。）

hand-rear：動詞，人工飼養。例句：The zoo decided to hand-rear the panda cub abandoned by his mother.（動物園決定人工飼養這隻被媽媽拋棄的貓熊寶寶。）

equilibrium：名詞，（情感或心理上的）平靜。例句：She tried to maintain her equilibrium through consulting.（她試圖透過諮商保持心理平靜。）

自由時報-990315