|
IN A quiet spot in eastern Montana, on rollinggolden prairies and under vast skies, 71 buffalocalves charge out of a corral. Kicking up dust asthey run, they quickly join a herd of severalhundred American buffalo of all ages. The calveshad arrived by road from Elk Island reserve inCanada; they are pure descendants of the buffalothat once lived in this area. At the end of the 19thcentury just a few were saved from Americanhunters and bred, in peace, on the other side of theborder. 在美国蒙大拿州东部一块安静的草原上，天空广阔无垠，金色草原延绵起伏。71头刚从栅栏中被释放出来的小野牛，奔向草原，地上的尘土被他们跑动的蹄子卷到半空高。很快，他们就加入了一个由几百只美洲野牛组成的牛群中，这个牛群拥有不同年龄段的野牛。这些小野牛们是通过公路从加拿大鹿岛自然保护区运送到蒙大拿州的;他们是纯正的美洲野牛，其祖先曾经生活在这里。到上世纪19世纪末，只有一少部分野牛因在边境的另一边，幸免于美国狩人的猎杀，能够安然无恙的生活并幸存下来。 Before Europeans arrived in North America as many as 60m buffalo are estimated to haveranged across the Great Plains. From around 1830, however, they were systematically killeduntil only a handful remained. Buffalo were taken for their hides, or simply because theywere getting in the way of settlers. Men like Buffalo Bill slaughtered thousands. | 
