The wolf’s effective hunt of large prey and striking, soulful appearance have attracted both haters and lovers of this wild predator.

狼对大型猎物的高效捕杀，外加其醒目且充满灵气的外表，同时勾出了人们对这种野生掠食者的憎恨和喜爱。

Wolves were so despised that the U.S. government established a bounty program that helped to eliminate all but a few hundred wolves in the United States by the 1930s. But thanks to the Endangered Species Act, the wolves are successfully being reintroduced to their place in nature, and it is the raven who loves its new ecosystem partner.

狼被鄙视的程度如此之深，以至于美国政府曾制定出一项悬赏计划，该计划实施到20世纪30年代的时候，已经帮助美国把狼杀剩至几百头。但多亏了《濒危物种法案》，狼被重新引进到它们在自然界中的家园，而爱上这个生态系统中新伙伴的正是乌鸦。

Much like their human counterparts, ravens and wolves have formed a mutually beneficial relationship in which they seem to both respect and engage each other in playful activities.

很像人类之间出现的情况，乌鸦和狼已经构成了一种互惠互利的关系，在这种关系中，它们似乎很尊重彼此，还会一同嬉戏。

Although many animals benefit from a wolf pack’s kill of an elk or deer, the ravens are first on the scene. Yellowstone National Park biologists have closely studied the gray wolves which were reintroduced to Yellowstone in 1995 and found that it is the raven who has benefited the most from the wolves. The average number of ravens present at a wolf kill is 30 – and up to 135 have been recorded to eat from the leftovers. Adirondack Wildlife, Inc. has reported a new study suggests that the real reason wolves hunt in packs is “to minimize the portion of a carcass lost to ravens!” These birds constantly carry away chunks of meat and can steal up to one-third of an animal carcass.

虽然很多动物都能从狼群捕杀马鹿或鹿（多指白尾鹿）的活动中获利，但乌鸦是第一个冒头的。黄石国家公园的生物学家对1995年时重新引入黄石公园的灰狼进行了仔细的研究，然后发现，因狼群而受益最多的是乌鸦。在一个狼群捕杀的现场，平均会有30只乌鸦在场，而且，根据记录，会有多达135只乌鸦去吃狼群吃剩的残骸。阿迪朗达克野生动物股份有限公司的报告说：一项新研究表明，狼成群捕猎的真正原因是"为了最大限度地降低尸骸被乌鸦吃掉的比例！"这些鸟类不断地叼走肉块，能偷走的量达到了一具动物尸骸的三分之一。
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While it may appear that the ravens just take advantage of the wolves, Bernd Heinrich, author of Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds, writes that the ravens repay their wolf benefactors: “At a kill site, the birds are more suspicious and alx than wolves. The birds serve the wolves as extra eyes and ears.”

虽然看起来是乌鸦在占狼的便宜，但《乌鸦的心灵：对与狼伴生的鸟展开的调查和冒险》一书的作者贝恩德·海因里希写道，乌鸦会回报于它们有恩的狼。"在捕杀现场，鸟比狼更多疑也更警惕。这些鸟起到了额外的眼睛和耳朵的功能，以此来服务狼"。

Ravens may also lead wolves to animal cadavers or to nearby prey. It is believed that the wolves may respond to the ravens’ calls or other behavior that indicates food. Sometimes when the ravens fly, the wolves will follow. Ravens have even been observed leading wolves to animal carcasses too tough for the ravens to penetrate with their strong, sharp beaks.

乌鸦也可能会引导狼群找到动物尸骸或是附近的猎物。据信，狼可能会对乌鸦的呼叫或其他指示食物的行为作出反应。有时在乌鸦飞起来时，狼也会跟着它们跑。甚至还有人观察到过，乌鸦把狼群领到了靠它们自己那锋利的硬喙啄不透的坚硬尸骸跟前。

When not competing for their next meal, wolves and ravens also play with each other. Observers have seen ravens dive at the wolves and then quickly fly away. Ravens may peck at the wolves’ tails to get the wolves to chase them, or the ravens may be teased themselves by wolf cubs chasing after them.

当狼和乌鸦不需要为了下一餐而竞争时，它们也会一起嬉戏。观察者曾见过乌鸦向着狼群俯冲，然后迅速飞离。乌鸦可能还会去啄狼尾巴，好勾引狼去追它们，有些乌鸦也可能会放任追赶它们的小狼崽戏耍自己，以此取乐。

While their relationship with ravens has certainly produced an odd couple in nature, wolves have also created a staggering effect on the natural ecosystem as a whole. The Yellowstone National Park wolf restoration program has been intensively studied and the wolves have provided a greater understanding of the importance of their role as a predator in maintaining the integrity of the entire ecosystem. They remind us that “in nature everything is connected to everything else” (from “The Wolves of Yellowstone,” Brooks/Cole division of Thomson Learning, Inc.).

狼和乌鸦的关系固然造就了自然界中的一对古怪伴侣，但狼也对整个自然生态系统造成了惊人的影响。黄石国家公园的狼群恢复计划已经得到了集中深入的研究，狼群让我们对它们这种掠食者在维护整个生态系统完整的方面发挥的作用有了更多更深入的了解。它们提醒了我们，"在大自然中，每一种生灵都是和其他一切生灵相互关联的"（摘自《黄石公园的狼》）。

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