IN JUST THE past few weeks Indians have been mauled(被撕咬、被袭击) by tigers (in the west), attacked by leopards (in the north) and trampled(被踩踏) by elephants (in the east). Like so many tragedies that occur with depressing frequency in the country—stampedes and bridge collapses are other good examples—these deaths highlight the failures of the state.(与这个国家频繁发生的许多悲剧——踩踏事件和桥梁坍塌也是很好的例子——一样，这些死亡事件凸显了国家的失职。) Yet, in an odd way(奇怪的是), they also reflect its successes. Indians are running into wild animals more often because India has become remarkably(非常、显著地) good at protecting them.
就在过去几周里，印度人遭到老虎撕咬（在西部）、豹子袭击（在北部）和大象踩踏（在东部）。与这个国家频繁发生的许多悲剧——踩踏事件和桥梁坍塌也是很好的例子——一样，这些死亡事件凸显了国家的失职。然而，奇怪的是，它们也反映了国家的成功。印度人越来越频繁地遇到野生动物，是因为印度在保护它们方面做得非常出色。
Consider the tiger. In the 1970s India’s national animal seemed to be heading towards extinction(灭绝). Today the big stripey cat is thriving(繁盛、兴旺). Over the past two decades numbers have more than doubled to nearly 3,700, even as(与此同时、正当……时) populations collapsed(崩溃、骤降) in richer and less crowded parts of Asia, such as Malaysia. So effective has India been in boosting the beast that it agreed to export tigers to Cambodia, where they had gone extinct.(印度在增加这种动物数量方面如此有效，以至于它同意向柬埔寨出口老虎——那里的老虎已经灭绝。) “Project Tiger”, as the conservation effort is known, has been a roaring success(巨大的成功).
以老虎为例。20世纪70年代，印度的国兽似乎正走向灭绝。如今，这种身上有条纹的大猫正在繁盛。过去二十年间，其数量翻了一倍多，达到近3700只，而与此同时，在亚洲更富裕、人口更不拥挤的地区，如马来西亚，老虎种群却崩溃了。印度在增加这种动物数量方面如此有效，以至于它同意向柬埔寨出口老虎——那里的老虎已经灭绝。这项被称为“老虎计划”的保护行动，取得了巨大的成功。
It is not the only one. A few years ago the western state of Gujarat opened a reserve(保护区) to accommodate its expanding population of Asiatic lions. The chief minister of Assam, in the east, recently said that his state had in the previous year recorded zero cases of poaching related to its large and growing population of rhinos.(东部阿萨姆邦的首席部长最近表示，该邦去年与数量庞大且不断增长的犀牛相关的偷猎案件为零。) Such triumphs have unleashed animal spirits(动物精神（经济学术语）). Since 2022 India has been importing cheetahs from Africa in the hope of re-establishing(重建、恢复) a species that went extinct within its borders in 1952.
这并非个例。几年前，西部古吉拉特邦开设了一个保护区，以容纳不断增长的亚洲狮种群。东部阿萨姆邦的首席部长最近表示，该邦去年与数量庞大且不断增长的犀牛相关的偷猎案件为零。这些胜利释放了动物精神。自2022年以来，印度一直从非洲进口猎豹，希望重建一个1952年在该国境内灭绝的物种。