The caribou of Quebec are at breaking point(濒临崩溃边缘). The province, home to 15% of Canada’s population of woodland caribou, has seen numbers crash(暴跌) to about half of what they were a decade ago. For years, local First Nations(加拿大原住民中的“第一民族”) people, researchers and environmental groups have criticised the provincial government’s lack of action on protecting caribou, an animal considered a keystone species(关键物种) by Indigenous peoples.
魁北克的驯鹿已濒临崩溃边缘。该省拥有加拿大15%的林地驯鹿，如今数量已暴跌至十年前的一半左右。多年来，当地原住民、研究人员和环保组织一直批评省政府在保护驯鹿方面无所作为——在原住民眼中，驯鹿是维系生态系统的关键物种。
A recently announced agreement between the federal and Quebec governments has raised hopes that the province will finally be compel(迫使)led to release a protection strategy. The federal government has committed C$25m (£13m) to the province for caribou over five years, with an additional C$15m for the First Nations communities on whose land the herd(兽群)s live.
联邦政府与魁北克省政府最近宣布的一项协议让人们燃起希望，认为该省终将被迫公布保护战略。联邦政府承诺五年内向该省提供2500万加元（约1300万英镑）用于驯鹿保护，并额外拨款1500万加元给鹿群栖息地所在的原住民社区。
But one detail of the announcement has caused concern: the continued reliance on maternity pen(产仔围栏)s. Pregnant caribou have been rounded up and enclosed in pens in the hopes that(希望……) the secure environment will give them and their calves a better chance of survival. But experts say this cannot be a longterm(长期的) solution.
但公告中有一个细节引发担忧：方案仍继续依赖“产仔围栏”。怀孕的驯鹿被集中圈养在围栏中，希望安全的环境能让母鹿和幼崽有更大的存活机会。但专家表示，这不可能成为长久之计。