A water buffalo grazes in a lush open field, an egret standing sentinel on its back. A herd of wild cattle bathes in the sunshine along the side of a winding road.
一头水牛在葱翠的旷野上吃草，一只白鹭静静地立在它的背上。在一条蜿蜒曲折的路旁，一群野牛在晒着太阳。
Two idyllic rural scenes, seen nearly every day.
这两幅闲适恬静的郊野景致，几乎每天都可以看到。
In Hong Kong.
这是在香港。
This is a place known for its urban superlatives. There are more skyscrapers here than anywhere on the planet. Most residents live in tiny apartments, many stacked atop sprawling shopping malls, which in turn are piled on top of subway stations. With an area about the size of Luxembourg, Hong Kong is continuously reclaiming land from the sea, making more space for its 7.2 million people.
这个地方以美妙的城市景观著称，摩天大楼比地球上任何地方都多。大多数居民住在十分狭小的公寓内，而这些公寓有很多建在成片的购物中心之上，购物中心又往往建在地铁站之上。因为面积大概只有卢森堡那么大，香港在持续填海造地，好为720万人口创造更多空间。
But there is another side to this former British colony. A wild side. Most of Hong Kong is not an urban jungle, but rather a real one, teeming with monkeys, Burmese pythons, barking deer, wild boars and 14 types of venomous snakes (eight of which, including the king cobra, are lethal to humans). About three-quarters of the land here is countryside, mostly mountainous terrain and much of it protected as parkland.
不过，这片英国的前殖民地还有另一面——野性的一面。香港大多数地方并不是都市森林，而是覆盖着真正的森林，里面栖居着很多野生动物，包括猴子、缅甸蟒蛇、麂、野猪和14种毒蛇（包括眼镜王蛇在内的八种可以致人死亡）。香港有四分之三的地方是郊野，大多是丘陵，而且有很多作为公共绿地保护了起来。
Rice paddies once dotted the lowland areas, where for generations cattle and water buffalo plowed the swampy land. By the 1970s, when Hong Kong’s economic boom and soaring land prices made farming less attractive and uneconomical, most of the work animals were abandoned.
那些低洼区域也曾点缀着片片稻田，人们用黄牛和水牛世代耕种着松软的湿地。至上世纪70年代，香港经济开始繁荣，土地价格飙升，务农变得越来越没有吸引力，又缺乏经济价值，大多数农畜遭到遗弃。
They seem to have done just fine.
不过，它们似乎过得也不错。
As many as 1,000-odd feral bovines — mostly cattle but also water buffaloes — remain. While many make their homes deep inside the country parks, others live near people, grazing at bus stops, occasionally raiding gardens and blocking traffic.
目前香港有1000多头野牛——大多数是黄牛，也有水牛。尽管它们当中很多在郊野公园深处找到了自己的家，但也有一些聚居在靠近人类的地方。它们会在出租车站附近吃草，偶尔还会突袭花园或造成交通堵塞。
This month, an immense, horned water buffalo surprised students by running alongside them in a cross-country race. For many residents venturing outside the city’s urban core, cattle are the first wild animals they encounter.
本月，正进行越野赛跑的学生，就意外地碰上一大群长角的水牛跟着他们一起跑。对于很多到城市核心区域之外的地方游玩的居民来说，牛往往是他们首先看到的野生动物。
Animal-rights advocates say the cattle have helped bring a sea change in attitudes toward wildlife in recent years, both among the populace and the government. A decade ago, the animals’ future looked uncertain as developers, especially on Lantau Island, home to the city’s airport and Disneyland, pushed the government to remove them to clear land for new houses.
动物权益倡导人士表示，最近几年，因为牛的存在，不管是民众还是政府，对野生动物的态度都大为改观。10年前，动物们的未来显得并不确定，因为开发商，尤其是香港机场和迪士尼乐园所在的大屿山岛上的开发商，竭力促使政府除掉野生动物，腾出地方建造新项目。
Many cattle, which are not a protected species, were slaughtered, and the herds on the island were on the verge of being eliminated, said Ho Loy, who leads the Lantau Buffalo Association.
大屿山爱护水牛协会负责人何来(Ho Loy)表示，由于牛不是保护物种，当时有许多被屠宰，岛上的牛群濒临灭绝。
“It was just like a war,” said Ms. Ho, whose group seeks to preserve the island’s cattle and buffalo.
“就像一场战争，”何来说。她领导的团体致力于保护大屿山的黄牛和水牛。
Now, the Hong Kong government agency in charge of managing wildlife is working to preserve the cattle, monitoring their health, tagging them, tracking some with GPS collars, and performing selective sterilizations to keep their numbers in check. Since the agency, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, set up its cattle management team in 2011, more than 300 animals have been sterilized, it said in an emailed response to questions.
现在，负责管理野生动物的香港政府机构正努力保护牛群，检测它们的健康状况，给它们做标记，带上有GPS定位功能的项圈以追踪其活动。他们还会有选择地给牛做绝育，以控制种群规模。这一部门名为香港渔农自然护理署。通过邮件回答采访问题时，护理署表示，自2011年成立牛只管理队以来，他们已经给超过300头牛做了绝育。
Volunteer groups like Ms. Ho’s, as well as similar organizations in other parts of Hong Kong, work closely with the government and the public to protect the animals and handle complaints.
诸如大屿山爱护水牛协会这样的志愿团体，以及香港其他地区的类似机构，还和政府、公众紧密合作，保护动物，处理投诉问题。
The beasts’ higher profile has given rise to a new breed of residents: urban cowgirls.
野牛受关注程度的提高还催生了一种新的居民类型：都市女牛仔。
Karina O’Carroll, 32, is one of them. As a founder of Sai Kung Buffalo Watch, she takes calls from the public at all hours, responding to reports of cattle blocking roads, and protests from people annoyed by piles of steaming cow patties. All in an effort to maintain bovine-human harmony.
32岁的拉琳娜·欧卡罗尔(Karina O’Carroll)就是其中一员。作为西贡野牛观察(Sai Kung Buffalo Watch)机构的一名创始人，她会接听公众的来电，在接到有关野牛堵塞交通的报告，或被一堆堆热气腾腾的牛粪惹恼的人们的抱怨时，加以解决。这些都是为了实现人畜和谐共处。
“We have gone to pick up poo to appease people,” she said, explaining to them that “it’s the best thing for your gardens and your plants.”
“为了安抚人们的情绪，我们有去捡牛粪，”她说，还会向他们解释，“对你家的花园和植物来说，牛粪是最好的东西。”
Ms. O’Carroll does not have a lasso. She has found that the best way to shoo cattle off the road is to jingle some car keys — they will move away from the sound. Failing that, splash them with water. And though she does not carry a six-shooter, she does on occasion fire antimaggot medication at their hindquarters.
欧卡罗尔不用套索。她发现把牛从道路上赶走的最好的办法，是用车钥匙发出叮当的响声。它们听到那种声音就会离开。如果这个办法行不通，可以向它们撒一些水。尽管不曾用左轮手枪对付过这些动物，但她偶尔会向它们的臀部及后腿上喷防蛆剂。
“They don’t like the sound of sprays,” she says. “You’ve got one shot, and then they’re gone.”
“他们不喜欢喷雾器的声音，”她说。“你只要喷一下，它们就走了。”
Ms. Ho is more of a cow whisperer, talking to the animals in a soothing voice to make them move off the roadway, out of harm’s way.
何来则更像是一个牛语者，会以柔和的声音和动物们说话，让它们离开道路，免受伤害。
Both women are helped by scores of volunteers, as interest in the cattle grows. The government now sees the animals as less of a nuisance and more of a tourist attraction.
随着人们对牛群的兴趣增大，不少志愿者前来帮助二人做这些工作。政府现在更多地把这些动物看做吸引旅游的元素，而不是把它们当作麻烦。
“The department recognizes that the cattle and buffalo are part of the heritage of rural Hong Kong and that it brings pleasure to visitors and locals alike to see these animals in a natural environment,” the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department says on its website.
“本署认同黄牛及水牛是本港农村生活历史遗产的其中一部分，本地和外地游客亦乐于见到它们在自然环境中活动，”渔农自然护理署在其网站上表示。
Cows are far and away the most common wild animal seen in Hong Kong, but encounters with other creatures also take place as the city expands and people venture into the wilderness.
牛无疑是香港最常见的野生动物，远远超出其他物种。但随着城市扩大，以及人类的活动范围深入郊野，和其他动物相遇的情况也时有发生。
In May, a wild boar entered a shopping mall on Hong Kong Island, rampaging through a children’s store before being tranquilized and returned to the wild. The next month, a 12-foot python had to be removed from a village grave site where it had taken residence. Families hiking in the wilderness have been known to lose a family dog to a python’s stranglehold.
今年5月，一头野猪闯进港岛一家商场，在一间儿童商店里横冲直闯，之后被麻醉并送回野外。6月，一座村子不得不从墓地移走了一条盘踞在那里的12英尺长巨蟒。有一家人在旷野徒步时，一只宠物狗被巨蟒缠绕勒死。
Last month, more than a dozen macaque monkeys took over a school playground, forcing students to move inside while animal control officials tried to remove the primates. Eventually one, lured by a banana, was caught in a cage, prompting the others to retreat, local news media reported.
上个月，十几只猕猴占领了一所学校的运动场，学生们不得不回到室内，等待管控动物的官员驱散这群灵长目生物。据当地新闻媒体报道，最终一只猴子受不了香蕉引诱，被关进了笼子，其他猴子才撤离了运动场。
Hong Kong’s thriving wild fauna stands in sharp contrast to the rest of China. From 1970 to 2010, the population of reptiles and amphibians fell 97 percent in China, while the mammal populations — humans excepted — fell 50 percent during the same period, according to a study released this month by the World Wide Fund for Nature.
野生动物在香港的生机勃勃，与中国其他地区形成了鲜明的对比。世界自然基金会(WWF)本月公布的一项研究显示，从1970年到2010年，中国爬行动物和两栖动物的总量下降了97%，而哺乳动物数量——人类除外——在同一时期下降了50%。
Cattle here are bucking that trend. Their numbers on Lantau Island have more than tripled in recent years, Ms. Ho estimates.
香港的牛群则逆势增长。据何来估计，近年来大屿山的牛只数量增加了两倍多。
Feral cattle, which do not meet the government’s definition of wild animals, do not enjoy government protection. In Hong Kong, killing or possessing a wild Burmese python, fox, squirrel, monkey or any bird subjects violators to a fine of as much as $12,900 and up to a year in prison.
野牛不符合政府对野生动物的定义，并未受到政府保护。在香港，猎杀或拥有野生缅甸蟒蛇、狐狸、松鼠、猴子或任何鸟类会被处以至多10万港元（约合人民币8万元）的罚款、最高一年的监禁。
But these days, few people set out to harm the animals, and though Ms. O’Carroll and her colleagues fear that cattle rustlers from mainland China could spirit whole herds away on boats in the dead of night, so far that does not appear to have happened.
但现如今，几乎没有人会做出伤害动物的行为，不过欧卡罗尔和同事们担心，来自中国大陆的偷牛贼可能会在夜深人静的时候把整群牛带上船运走。但这样的事情至今并没有出现过。
Instead, more people seem to enjoy just having them around as a living reminder of Hong Kong’s bucolic past.
更多的人似乎喜欢野牛在周围流连，因为这是一个生动的提醒，令人想起香港昔日的田园风情。
“They’re part of our community,” Ms. O’Carroll said. “They have to stay. They were here before a lot of us.”
“它们是我们社群的一部分，必须留下来。它们比我们很多人来这里的时间都早，”欧卡罗尔说。