脫去緊身衣，企鵝展新姿

小時(shí)侯老師常說(shuō)，動(dòng)物界里有一群穿著黑色禮服的紳士，住在很冷很冷的地方——它們就是企鵝先生?？墒?，你能想象企鵝真的穿上衣服嗎？曾經(jīng)，皮埃爾就是這么一只獨(dú)特的企鵝。不過(guò)，如今的它已經(jīng)褪去外衣，回歸自我。一起來(lái)看看它的故事吧。

Earlier this year， a penguin at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco was， arguably[有爭(zhēng)議的]， the world’s best-dressed penguin. In reality， he was probably the world’s only dressed penguin – outfitted with a “wet suit[緊身潛水衣]” after he began to lose his feathers.

Bald patches started appearing on Pierre’s tail and head in 2006.

The situation was dangerous， says Pam Schaller， a senior aquatic[水生的] biologist at the California Academy of Sciences.

Feathers keep penguins warm and enable them to identify[識(shí)別] each other.

“With the appearance of bald patches， Pierre was getting picked on[作弄] by other birds， and he wasn’t swimming very often because he was very cold，” Schaller said.

After medical tests yielded inconclusive[不確定的] results， Pierre was fitted with a neoprene[氯丁橡膠] vest， which allowed him to move his wings and flippers[鰭狀肢].

After six weeks in his new clothes， Pierre’s feathers began to re-grow， and he now has a new lease on life[改善某人狀況或前景的機(jī)會(huì)].

By penguin standards， Pierre is an elder statesman[政治家]: In the wild， penguins live about 15 years; in captivity[這里指人工圈養(yǎng)]， they live to about 20. Pierre turned 25 in February.

“He is behaving as though he is， once again， the patriarch[元老] of the colony[群體]，” Schaller says.

“Now he’s standing tall and strong.”

直到今年早些時(shí)候，舊金山加州科學(xué)院里的一只企鵝——在重重爭(zhēng)議下——曾是“全球最佳著裝企鵝”。實(shí)際上，它可能是世界上唯一一只穿衣服的企鵝——它在開(kāi)始掉毛之后穿上了一套“緊身

潛水衣”。

2006年，企鵝皮埃爾的尾巴和頭部開(kāi)始出現(xiàn)禿斑。

據(jù)加州科學(xué)院的資深水生生物學(xué)家潘姆·斯查勒稱，它（當(dāng)時(shí)）的情況很危險(xiǎn)。

羽毛能為企鵝保暖，讓它們可以相互識(shí)別。

“出現(xiàn)禿斑以后，皮埃爾開(kāi)始受到其它企鵝的嘲弄。而且它不能經(jīng)常下水游泳，因?yàn)椋ㄊビ鹈模┧械椒浅：??！彼共槔照f(shuō)。

醫(yī)學(xué)檢驗(yàn)沒(méi)有得出確切定論，隨后，皮埃爾穿上了能讓其自由運(yùn)動(dòng)翅膀和雙腳的氯丁二烯橡膠防護(hù)馬甲。

穿上“新衣裳”六周后，皮埃爾的羽毛開(kāi)始重新生長(zhǎng)，現(xiàn)在它有了讓生活煥發(fā)生機(jī)的希望。

按照企鵝王國(guó)的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，皮埃爾算是一位老當(dāng)益壯的“開(kāi)國(guó)元?jiǎng)住绷恕Ｔ谝巴猓簌Z可以存活約15年；若是人工喂養(yǎng)，它們可以活到20歲左右。而今年2月份，皮埃爾已經(jīng)達(dá)到25歲高齡了。

斯查勒說(shuō)：“它現(xiàn)在的一舉一動(dòng)（表明）它似乎又重新獲得了部落長(zhǎng)老的地位。……