動物園飼養的極度瀕臨滅絕的蝸牛被放歸到一個偏遠的大西洋島嶼上（非常緩慢地）漫步

這次釋放使兩種沙漠島蝸牛重新回到野外。在此之前，人們認為它們已經滅絕

More than 1,300 critically endangered snails, bred in a zoo, have been released into the wild on a remote Atlantic island.

動物園飼養的 1,300 多隻極度瀕臨滅絕的蝸牛已被釋放到大西洋一個偏遠島嶼的野外。

The release marks the return of two species of Desertas Island land snails to their natural habitat, after they were feared to be extinct for a century.

這次釋放標誌著沙漠島蝸牛的兩個物種在人們擔心滅絕一個世紀後重返自然棲息地。

A small population of the snails was discovered surviving on rocky cliffs on Deserta Grande island, near Madeira, prompting a rescue effort by conservationists.

在馬德拉群島附近的大沙漠島的岩石懸崖上發現了一小群倖存的蝸牛，促使自然資源保護者展開救援工作。

The snails were taken to zoos in the UK and France, including Chester Zoo, where they were housed in a converted shipping container.

這些蝸牛被帶到英國和法國的動物園，包括切斯特動物園，它們被安置在一個改裝的貨櫃裡。

The tiny molluscs are native to the windswept, mountainous island of Deserta Grande, south-east of Madeira, where habitat destruction by rats, mice and goats, introduced by humans, had led to the snails being feared extinct.

這種微小的軟體動物原產於馬德拉島東南部多山的大沙漠島，人類引進的老鼠和山羊破壞了那裡的棲息地，導致蝸牛瀕臨滅絕。

But conservation expeditions between 2012 and 2017 found otherwise, discovering just 200 surviving snails on the island.

但 2012 年至 2017 年間的保育探險卻發現了不同的結果，島上僅發現了 200 隻倖存的蝸牛。

Believed to be the last of their kind, the snails were collected and brought into captivity.

這些蝸牛被認為是最後一批蝸牛，因此被收集起來並圈養起來。

At Chester Zoo, 60 of the precious snails were cared for by the conservation science team, who recreated the right food, vegetation and conditions for them in miniature habitat tanks.

在切斯特動物園，保育科學團隊照顧了 60 隻珍貴的蝸牛，他們在微型棲息地水箱中為它們重新創造了合適的食物、植被和條件。

Now, 1,329 snail offspring, bred at the zoo, have been marked with identification dots - using non-toxic pens and nail varnish - and transported back to the wild for release.

現在，動物園飼養的 1,329 隻蝸牛後代已被用無毒筆和指甲油標記上識別點，然後運回野外放生。

"This is a colour code," said Dinarte Teixeira, a conservation biologist at Madeira's Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests.

「這是一個顏色代碼，」馬德拉自然保護和森林研究所的保育生物學家迪納爾特·特謝拉說。

"It will allow us to spot them and track where they disperse to, how much they grow, how many survive and how well they adapt to their new environment."

“這將使我們能夠發現它們並追蹤它們分散到哪裡、它們生長了多少、有多少存活下來以及它們對新環境的適應程度。”

A wild refuge has been restored for the snails on Bugio, a smaller neighbouring island in the Ilhas Desertas (Desert Islands) archipelago.

布吉奧 (Bugio) 是伊利亞斯沙漠群島 (Ilhas Desertas) 的一個較小的鄰近島嶼，現已為蝸牛恢復了野生避難所。

Bugio is a nature reserve and invasive species have been eradicated there.

布吉奧是一個自然保護區，入侵物種已在那裡被消滅。

Gerardo Garcia from Chester Zoo said the reintroduction was "a major step in a species recovery plan".

切斯特動物園的傑拉爾多·加西亞表示，重新引入是「物種恢復計畫的重要一步」。

"If it goes as well as we hope, more snails will follow them next spring. It's a huge team effort which shows that it is possible to turn things around for highly threatened species.

「如果進展如我們希望的那樣，明年春天會有更多的蝸牛跟隨它們。這是一個巨大的團隊努力，表明有可能扭轉高度瀕危物種的局面。

"These snails are such an important part of the natural habitat [on the islands they come from]," explained Heather Prince from Chester Zoo.

「這些蝸牛是自然棲息地（它們來自的島嶼上）的重要組成部分，」切斯特動物園的希瑟·普林斯解釋道。

As well as being food for other native species, she explained, snails break down organic matter and bring nutrients to the soil.

她解釋說，蝸牛不僅是其他本土物種的食物，還能分解有機物，為土壤帶來養分。

"They help plants grow. All of that is dependent on the little guys - the insects and the snails that so often get overlooked."

“它們幫助植物生長。所有這一切都依賴於這些小傢伙——昆蟲和蝸牛，而它們經常被忽視。”