Beverly + Dereck Joubert 談大型貓科動物啟發的生命課程

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講者：Beverly + Dereck Joubert
2010年12月演講，2010年12月在TEDWomen上線
MyOOPS開放式課程
翻譯：洪曉慧
編輯：劉契良
簡繁轉換：趙弘
後製：洪曉慧
字幕影片後制：謝旻均
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Beverly + Dereck Joubert 談大型貓科動物啟發的生命課程
Beverly Joubert：我們對於非洲荒野及保護非洲荒野確實充滿熱情，我們所做的就是專注研究具標誌性的貓科動物。我知道，鑒於人類的苦難和貧窮，甚至氣候變化，人們會懷疑，為什麼要擔心幾隻貓科動物？我們今天在這裡與大家分享一個我們學到的資訊，由一隻非常重要和特殊的生物，就是這隻豹。
Dereck Joubert：嗯，我們生活基本上就像一集超長的「CSI犯罪現場」，大約演了28年。大體上來說，我們所做的是研究科學、觀察動物行為。我們曾目睹超過2000次殺戮行為，由這些神奇的動物所為，但科學確實讓我們失望的一點就是動物性格，即這些動物擁有的個別特質，這是一個典型的例子，我們發現這隻豹，在一棵 2000歲的非洲猴麵包樹上。在同一棵樹上，我們發現她母親和她祖母，她帶領我們進入一段旅程，向我們揭露一些非常特別的事。這是她八天大的女兒。發現這隻豹的當下，我們意識到，我們需要搬到附近。因此，基本上，在接下來四年半時間裡，我們留在這隻豹身邊，每天尾隨她，試圖瞭解她以及她的個別特質，並真正瞭解她。現在，我注定得花很多時間，陪伴在某種獨特的、非常非常特別的、有個性的、且常是誘人的雌性生物身邊。（笑聲）。Beverly顯然是其中之一，這隻小豹，Legadema，是另一個，她改變了我們的生命。
BJ：嗯，我們確實花了很多時間跟她在一起，事實上，甚至比她母親更多。當她母親前去狩獵，我們留在原地攝影。之前，一陣雷電擊中一棵樹，在離我們20步遠處，非常可怕，樹葉和刺鼻的氣味當頭落下。當然，我們震驚了一段時間，但當我們設法冷靜下來，我們看了一下，說：「我的天哪！那隻小幼豹會怎樣？她可能會永遠將這震耳欲聾的雷擊與我們聯想在一起了。」嗯，我們不必擔心。她衝出樹叢，直直衝向我們，坐在我們身邊，發著抖，背對著Dereck向外看。事實上，從那天起，她就很放心的跟我們在一起。因此，我們認為，那一天是她真正名符其實的一天，我們叫她Legadema，意思是「天際之光」。
DJ：現在我們已經發現這種個別特質存在於所有種類動物中，特別是貓科動物。這隻獨特的獅子叫做 Eetwidomayloh，即「以火焰迎接」。你可以由照片看出，你知道，那是他的特質，但只有與這些動物近距離接觸，花時間與他們共度才能得知。事實上，我們甚至可以接觸並挖掘出它們所擁有的這些個別特質。
BJ：但在我們調查過程中，必須尋找非洲最蠻荒之地，目前是位於博茨瓦納的奧卡萬多三角洲。是的，它是沼澤區，我們住在沼澤區的一頂帳篷中。但我必須告訴你，每天都令人振奮不已。但我們精神也是緊繃的，大部分時間都是如此，因為我們得駛過水域。這是一個未知的領域，但我們確實在那裡尋找、搜索和拍攝標誌性貓科動物。
DJ：很重要的一點是，當然，大家都知道貓科動物不喜歡水，因此這對我們是一個真正的啟發。我們只能靠著驅策自己來找出這一點，到頭腦不正常的人會去的地方，沒有驅動裝置。順帶一提，這是Beverly，拼了老命的踩，到那裡去，驅動我們的車，驅策我們自己。但我們成功發現這些獅子，比其他種類大15%，對於在水中狩獵水牛很拿手。
BJ：然後，當然，當我們回頭時，才知道挑戰來了。我們的判斷並不總是正確，在這特別的一天，我們嚴重低估了水深，我們越陷越深，直到水到達Dereck胸部的高度。我們沮喪到極點，我們的車淹沒了大半，事實上，我們還繼續淹沒了價值兩百萬美元的攝影器材，淹沒了我們的自豪。我必須告訴你，情況真的很嚴重，我們抓住了引擎。
DJ：當然，我們對車的原則之一是，誰讓車被淹沒，就得與鱷魚共泳。（笑聲）。你們也會發現，所有這些相片是Beverly從頂角位置拍攝，順便提一下，是乾燥的頂角。（笑聲）。但所有我們受困的地方，確實有相當棒的景觀。不多久，這些獅子回頭朝我們跑來，所以Beverly能夠拍到很棒的相片。
BJ：但我們確實日以繼夜地試圖捕捉獨一無二的鏡頭。20年前，我們拍了一部叫做《永遠的敵人》的紀錄片，成功地捕捉到兩個物種間那種不尋常且令人不安的行為；介於獅子和土狼之間。令人驚訝的，它成為一部大放異彩的紀錄片。我們隻能由此瞭解到，人們在自然界嗜殺和幫派火拼之間可以看到相似處。
DJ：這很驚人，你們可以看到這隻獅子正做著與他名字相符之事，Eetwidomayloh，意指「表現」。他鎖定這隻土狼並著手獵捕。（動物的叫聲）。但這是，我認為，這所代表的是，動物個體擁有這些個性和特質，我們要瞭解它們，不僅是驅策自己，而是得生存於特定交戰規則中，這意味著我們不能介入。這樣的行為已經持續進行三、四、五百萬年，我們不能插手說，「那是錯誤的，這是正確的。」但這對我們來說並非易事。
BJ：如Dereck所說，我們得度過極端狀態、極端的氣溫，在夜晚驅策自己。睡眠剝奪也是個極端。我們生活在極端邊緣，大多時間均是如此。10年來，我們試圖捕捉獅子和大象在一起的畫面，從未如願，直到這個特別的夜晚。我得告訴你們，對我來說，這是個令人不安的夜晚，我的淚水順著臉頰流下，我焦慮的顫抖，但我知道，要捕捉某些前所未見，從未有文獻紀錄的東西，我確信你們應該與我們一起分享。
DJ：這些令人驚歎的情景和時刻，可能是我們職業生涯中最精彩部分，你永遠不知道結局如何。許多人認為，事實上，死亡從眼睛開始，不是心，也不是肺。這就是當人們放棄希望，或任何生命形式放棄希望時的情形。你可以看到它從這裡開始。這頭大象面對壓倒性優勢，就只是放棄了希望。但同樣的道理，你可以再度得回希望，就在你認為一切結束時，某些事發生了。一絲希望的火花燃起，某種形式的戰鬥意志，我們都有的堅強意志，這隻大象有、保護機制有、大型貓科動物也有，萬物都有為生存奮鬥的意志，去抵抗、甩開心理障礙、繼續前進。對我們來說，在許多方面，這頭大象已成為一個象徵。對我們來說，當我們在工作上前進時，這是一個希望的象徵。（掌聲）回到豹身上。我們花費很多時間跟這隻豹在一起，並逐漸瞭解她的個性，她的個別特質。也許我們做得有點過頭，也許我們把她視為理所當然，也許她不喜歡那麼超過，這是指夫妻倆一起工作。所以我確實得說，在車內，Beverly 和我彼此領域區分的很嚴格。Beverly坐在一邊，她所有攝影設備都在那；我坐在另一邊，那是屬於我的空間，這領域區分對我們而言彌足珍貴。
BJ：但當這個小幼豹看到我的座位空出，它爬上後座拿起攝影裝備，她像一隻好奇的貓闖入，到這裡來探索。這是非比尋常的，我們很感激，她信任我們到那種程度，但同時，我們擔心，如果她使之成為一種習慣，跳進別人的車，不一定會有相同結果。她可能因此被槍殺。因此，我們知道必須迅速作出反應，我們認為不會嚇到她的唯一方法，就是嘗試模擬像她媽媽發出的咆哮，一陣嘶吼和聲音。因此，Dereck打開車上的加熱器風扇，非常有創意。
DJ：這是我挽救婚姻的唯一途徑，因為Beverly覺得她被取代了，你們瞭解吧！（笑聲）但實實在在地，這就是這隻小豹正在展示她的個別特質。但我們對接下來發生的，我們與她之間的關係，並沒有心理準備；當她開始狩獵時。
BJ：她第一次狩獵時，我們確實很興奮，就像看一場畢業典禮，我們覺得自己像是代理父母。當然，我們現在知道她會生存下去。但當我們看到狒狒幼兒攀住母親的毛皮，我們才意識到有件非常獨特的事正在Legadema身上發生。當然，狒狒幼兒很天真，它沒有轉身逃跑。我們在接下來幾個小時看到的非常獨特，這絕對令人驚歎不已。她把它叼到安全處所，保護它不被土狼獵捕，在接下來五個小時，她照料它。我們意識到，我們確實不瞭解一切，大自然是如此不可預測，我們必須任何時候保持開放心態。
DJ：好吧，她有點粗魯。（笑聲）。但事實上，我們在這裡所看到的很有意思。因為她是一隻想玩耍的幼獸，但她也同樣是個需要殺戮的獵捕者，在某方面是相衝突的。因為她也是個新生的母親，她有母性，就像一個年輕女孩正邁入成年女性時期。所以這確實將我們帶到這個新的層級，以理解動物特質來說。
BJ：當然，牠們整夜躺在一起，它們最後睡了幾個小時。但我得告訴你們，大家總會問，「狒狒寶寶怎麼了？」它確實死了，我們懷疑是因為寒冷的冬夜。
DJ：所以在這個階段，我想，我們對於保育的意義有非常、非常堅定的想法，我們必須處理這些個別特質，我們必須以尊重態度面對這個，並祝福它們。我們與國家地理雜誌提出大型貓科動物倡議，進一步著手保育議題，照顧我們摯愛的大型貓科動物，然後有機會回顧過去 50年，看全體人類共同做了什麼好事。當我和Beverly出生時，世上有45萬隻獅子，今天則有2萬隻。老虎的情況好不了多少；原本4萬5千隻，下降到也許只剩3千隻。
BJ：獵豹的數量急遽下降至1萬2千隻；豹的數量暴跌，從70萬隻下降到只有5萬隻。在這段非常時期，我們與 Legadema共處，事實上超過五年的期間。1萬隻豹被狩獵旅行者合法槍殺，這不是在那段日子被殺害唯一的豹，還有大量偷獵，可能也有相當數量。這根本不是永續的做法。我們欽佩它們、害怕它們，然而，身為人類，我們想偷走它們力量。曾經有段時期，只有國王身著豹皮，但現在，豹皮遍佈於儀式和慶典中，及傳統治療師和部長身上。當然，看這隻獅爪，已被剝皮，它奇怪的讓我想起人的手，這真諷刺，因為它們的命運掌握在我們手中。
DJ：有一個蓬勃發展的獸骨貿易，南非剛剛將一些獅骨流入市場。獅子和老虎的骨頭看起來幾乎完全一樣，因此，不多久，獅骨產業將消滅所有的老虎。我們現在有個真正的問題，跟獅子的行為差不多，雄獅的行為。因此，你們剛看到的2萬隻獅子這個數字，事實上情況並不這麼樂觀，因為可能有3或4千隻雄獅，事實上，它們都感染了同一種疾病，我稱之為自滿，我們的自滿。因為有一種運動、一個活動正在進行，我們都知道，但我們包庇這種行為，可能是因為我們還不瞭解我們今日所知的情形。
BJ：你們必須知道，當一隻雄獅被殺，它所有的驕傲完全瓦解，一隻新的雄獅進入這個區域，接管這份驕傲。當然，首先殺死所有幼獅，可能還有一些保護它們幼獅的母獅。所以我們估計，當一隻獅子被掛在牆上，就代表有20到30隻獅子在遠方某處被殺害。
DJ：我們的調查顯示，這些獅子是不可或缺的，它們是棲息地不可或缺的。如果它們消失了，非洲整個生態系統也會消失。每年有800億美元生態旅遊收入流進非洲，因此，這不僅是對獅子的擔憂，也是對非洲社區的擔憂。如果它們消失了，所有這一切都會一併消失。但我對許多方面更為擔憂，就是，當我們使自己脫離大自然，等於在精神上使自己脫離這些動物。我們失去了希望，喪失了那種精神上的聯繫、我們的尊嚴，這些我們內心的東西，使我們與這個星球緊密相連。
BJ：所以你們必須知道，望進獅子和豹的這雙眼睛，其中滿溢著危機意識。我們正進行的是，二月時，我們將發表一部叫《最後的獅子》紀錄片，《最後的獅子》正是目前所發生的事，這是我們所處的情況，最後的獅子。也就是說，如果我們不採取行動，做一些改變，這些平原上的大型貓科動物將完全滅絕，接下來，其他一切都會消失。簡言之，如果我們不能保護它們，就得擔負起保護自己的工作。
DJ：事實上，我們最初談到，改變我們生活的，就是保育跟尊重與祝福有關，很可能確實如此，這正是保育所需的觀念。我們需要它，我們尊重並祝福彼此，身為男性和女性，身為社會的一份子和這個星球的一部分，我們需要繼續努力。Legadema呢？嗯，我們可以報告一下，事實上，我們是爺爺奶奶了。
（笑聲）
BJ/DJ：非常感謝
（掌聲）
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以下為系統擷取之英文原文
About this talk
Beverly + Dereck Joubert live in the bush, filming and photographing lions and leopards in their natural habitat. With stunning footage (some never before seen), they discuss their personal relationships with these majestic animals -- and their quest to save the big cats from human threats.

About Beverly + Dereck Joubert

Documentary filmmakers Beverly and Dereck Joubert have worked to conserve wildlife for more than 25 years. As National Geographic Explorers in Residence, the couple influences public policy and… Full bio and more links

Transcript

Beverly Joubert: We are truly passionate about the African wilderness and protecting the African wilderness. And so what we've done is we've focused on iconic cats. And I know, in the light of human suffering and poverty and even climate change, one would wonder, why worry about a few cats? Well today we're here to share with you a message that we have learned from a very important and special character -- this leopard.

Dereck Joubert: Well, our lives have basically been like a super long episode of "CSI" -- something like 28 years. In essence, what we've done is we've studied the science, we've looked at the behavior, we've seen over 2,000 kills by these amazing animals. But one of the things that science really lets us down on is that personality, that individual personality that these animals have. And here's a prime example. We found this leopard in a 2,000 year-old baobab tree in Africa, and the same tree that we found her mother in and her grandmother. And she took us on a journey and revealed something very special to us -- her own daughter, eight days old. And the minute we found this leopard, we realized that we needed to move in. And so we basically stayed with this leopard for the next four and a half years -- following her every day, getting to know her, that individual personality of hers, and really coming to know her. Now I'm destined to spend a lot of time with some unique, very, very special, individualistic and often seductive female characters. (Laughter) Beverly's clearly one of them, and this little leopard, Legadema, is another, and she changed our lives.

BJ: Well we certainly did spend a lot of time with her -- in fact, more time than even her mother did. When her mother would go off hunting, we would stay and film. And early on, a lightning bolt hit a tree 20 paces away from us. It was frightening. And it showered us with leaves and a pungent smell. And of course, we were standing for awhile, but when we managed to get our wits about us, we looked at it and said, "My gosh, what's going to happen with that little cub? She's probably going to forever associate that deafening crash with us." Well, we needn't have worried. She came charging out of the thicket straight towards us, sat next to us, shivering, with her back towards Dereck, and looking out. And actually from that day on, she's been comfortable with us. So we felt that that day was the day that she really earned her name. We called her Legadema, which means "light from the sky."

DJ: Now we've found these individualisms in all sorts of animals, in particular in the cats. This particular one is called Eetwidomayloh, "he who greets with fire." And you can just see that about him, you know -- that's his character. But only by getting up close to these animals and spending time with them can we actually even reach out and dig out these personal characters that they have.

BJ: But through our investigation, we have to seek the wildest places in Africa. And right now this is in the Okavango Delta in Botswana. Yes, it is swamp. We live in the swamp in a tent. But I must tell you, everyday is exhilarating. But also, our hearts are in our throats a huge amount of the time, because we're driving through water, and it's an unknown territory. But we're really there seeking and searching and filming the iconic cats.

DJ: Now one of the big things, of course, everybody knows that cats hate water. And so this was a real revelation for us. And we could only find this by pushing ourselves, by going where no sane person should go -- not without some prompting, by the way, from Beverly -- and just pushing the envelope, going out there, pushing our vehicle, pushing ourselves. But we've managed to find that these lions are 15 percent bigger than any others, and they specialize in hunting buffalo in the water.

BJ: And then of course, the challenge is knowing when to turn around. We don't always get that right. And on this particular day, we seriously underestimated the depth. We got deeper and deeper, until it was at Dereck's chest height. Well then we hit a deep depression, and we seriously submerged the vehicle. We actually managed to drown two million dollars worth of camera gear. We drowned our pride, I must tell you, which was really serious, and we seized the engine.

DJ: And of course, one of the rules that we have in the vehicle is that he who drowns the vehicle gets to swim with the crocodiles. (Laughter) You will notice also that all of these images here are taken from the top angle by Beverly -- the dry top angle, by the way. (Laughter) But all the places we get stuck in really have great views. And it wasn't a moment, and these lions came back towards us, and Beverly was able to get a great photograph.

BJ: But we truly do spend day and night trying to capture unique footage. And 20 years ago, we did a film called "Eternal Enemies" where we managed to capture this unusual disturbing behavior across two species -- lions and hyenas. And surprisingly, it became a cult film. And we can only work that out as people were seeing parallels between the thuggish side of nature and gang warfare.

DJ: It was amazing, because you can see that this lion is doing exactly what his name, Eetwidomayloh, represents. He's focused on this hyena, and he is going to get it. (Animal sounds) But that's, I think, what this is all about, is that these individuals have these personalities and characters. But for us to get them, not only do we push ourselves, but we live by certain rules of engagement, which mean we can't interfere. This sort of behavior has been going on for three, four, five million years, and we can't step in and say, "That's wrong, and that's right." But that's not always easy for us.

BJ: So as Dereck says, we have to work through extremes -- extreme temperatures, push ourselves at night. Sleep deprivation is extreme. We're on the edge through a large part of the time. For 10 years, we tried to capture lions and elephants together -- and never ever managed until this particular night. And I have to tell you that it was a disturbing night for me. I had tears rolling down my cheeks. I was shaking with anxiety. But I knew that to capture something that had never been seen before, had never been documented. And I do believe you should stay with us.

DJ: The amazing thing about these moments -- and this is probably a highlight of our career -- is that you never know how it's going to end. Many people believe, in fact, that death begins in the eyes, not in the heart, not in the lungs. And that's when people give up hope, or when any life form gives up hope. And you can see the start of it here. This elephant, against overwhelming odds, simply gives up hope. But by the same token, you can get your hope back again. So just when you think it's all over, something else happens, some spark gets into you, some sort of will to fight -- that iron will that we all have, that this elephant has, that conservation has, that big cats have. Everything has that will to survive, to fight, to push through that mental barrier and to keep going. And for us, in many ways, this elephant has become a symbol of inspiration for us, a symbol of that hope as we go forward in our work.

(Applause)

Now back to the leopard. We were spending so much time with this leopard and getting to understand her individualism, her personal character, that maybe we were taking it a little bit far. We were perhaps taking her for granted, and maybe she didn't like that that much. This is about couples working together, and so I do need to say that within the vehicle we have quite strict territories, Beverly and I. Beverly sits on the one side where all her camera gear is, and I'm on the other side where my space is. These are precious to us, these divides.

BJ: But when this little cub saw that I had vacated my seat and climbed to the back to get some camera gear, she came in like a curious cat to come and investigate. It was phenomenal, and we felt grateful that she trusted us to that extent. But at the same time, we were concerned that if she created this as a habit and jumped into somebody else's car, it might not turn out the same way -- she might get shot for that. So we knew we had to react quickly. And the only way we thought we could without scaring her is to try and simulate a growl like her mother would make -- a hiss and a sound. So Dereck turned on the heater fan in the car -- very innovative.

DJ: It was the only way for me to save the marriage, because Beverly felt she was being replaced, you see. (Laughter) But really and truly, this was how this little leopard was displaying her individual personality. But nothing prepared us for what happened next in our relationship with her, when she started hunting.

BJ: And on this first hunt, we truly were excited. I was like watching a graduation ceremony. We felt like we were surrogate parents. And of course, we knew now that she was going to survive. But only when we saw the tiny baby baboon clinging to the mother's fur did we realize that something very unique was taking place here with Legadema. And of course, the baby baboon was so innocent, it didn't turn and run. So what we watched over the next couple of hours was very unique. It was absolutely amazing when she picked it up to safety, protecting it from the hyena. And over the next five hours, she took care of it. We realized that we actually don't know everything, and that nature is so unpredictable, we have to be open at all times.

DJ: Okay, so she was a little bit rough. (Laughter) But in fact, what we were seeing here was interesting. Because she is a cub wanting to play, but she was also a predator needing to kill, and yet conflicted in some way, because she was also an emerging mother. She had this maternal instinct, much like a young girl on her way to womanhood. And so this really took us to this new level of understanding that personality.

BJ: And of course, through the night, they lay together. They ended up sleeping for hours. But I have to tell you -- everybody always asks, "What happened to the baby baboon?" It did die. And we suspect it was from the freezing winter nights.

DJ: So at this stage, I guess, we had very, very firm ideas on what conservation meant. We had to deal with these individual personalities. We had to deal with them with respect and celebrate them. And so we, with the National Geographic, formed the Big Cats Initiative to march forward into conservation, taking care of the big cats that we loved -- and then had an opportunity to look back over the last 50 years to see how well we had all collectively been doing. So when Beverly and I were born, there were 450,000 lions, and today there are 20,000. Tigers haven't fared any better -- 45,000 down to maybe 3,000.

BJ: And then cheetahs have crashed all the way down to 12,000. Leopards have plummeted from 700,000 down to a mere 50,000. Now in the extraordinary time that we have worked with Legadema, which is really over a five-year period -- 10,000 leopards were legally shot by safari hunters. And that's not the only leopards that were being killed through that period. There's an immense amount of poaching as well. And so possibly the same amount. It's simply not sustainable. We admire them, and we fear them. And yet, as man, we want to steal their power. It used to be the time where only kings wore a leopard skin, but now throughout rituals and ceremonies, traditional healers and ministers. And of course, looking at this lion paw that has been skinned, it eerily reminds me of a human hand. And that's ironic, because their fate is in our hands.

DJ: There's a burgeoning bone trade. South Africa just released some lion bones onto the market. Lion bones and tiger bones look exactly the same, and so in a stroke, the lion bone industry is going to wipe out all the tigers. So we have a real problem here, no more so than the lions do, the male lions. So the 20,000 lion figure you just saw is actually a red herring, because there may be three or 4,000 male lions, and they all are actually infected with the same disease. I call it complacency -- our complacency. Because there's a sport, there's an activity going on that we're all aware of, that we condone. And that's probably because we haven't seen it like we are today.

BJ: And you have to know that, when a male lion is killed, it completely disrupts the whole pride. A new male comes into the area and takes over the pride, and, of course, first of all kills all the cubs and possibly some of the females that are defending their cubs. So we've estimated that between 20 to 30 lions are killed when one lion is hanging on a wall somewhere in a far-off place.

DJ: So what our investigations have shown is that these lions are essential. They're essential to the habitat. It they disappear, whole ecosystems in Africa disappear. There's an 80 billion-dollar a year eco-tourism revenue stream into Africa. So this is not just a concern about lions, it's a concern about communities in Africa as well. If they disappear, all of that goes away. But what I'm more concerned about in many ways is that, as we de-link ourselves from nature, as we de-link ourselves spiritually from these animals, we lose hope, we lose that spiritual connection, our dignity, that thing within us that keeps us connected to the planet.

BJ: So you have to know, looking into the eyes of lions and leopards right now, it is all about critical awareness. And so what we are doing, in February, we're bringing out a film called "The Last Lion". And "The Last Lion" is exactly what is happening right now. That is the situation we're in -- the last lions. That is, if we don't take action and do something, these plains will be completely devoid of big cats, and then, in turn, everything else will disappear. And simply, if we can't protect them, we're going to have a job protecting ourselves as well.

DJ: And in fact, that original thing that we spoke about and designed our lives by -- that conservation was all about respect and celebration -- is probably true; that's really what it needs. We need it. We respect and celebrate each other as a man and a woman, as a community and as part of this planet, and we need to continue that.

And Legadema? Well we can report, in fact, that we're grandparents.

(Laughter)

BJ/DJ: Thank you very much.

(Applause)