新西兰特有的巨型维塔——被认为是世界上体重最重的昆虫——种群数量正式被认定为“正在恢复”，这要归功于一个开创性的繁育计划，该计划已监督放归了11,000只昆虫回归野外。
The population of New Zealand’s endemic wētāpunga – believed to be the world’s heaviest insect – is officially “recovering” thanks to a groundbreaking breeding programme that has overseen the release of 11,000 insects into the wild.
“巨型维塔的未来一片光明，”保护部荣誉研究员克里斯·格林博士表示，他为《新西兰动物学杂志》记录了该项目的成功。格林合著了一份于10月2日发布的报告，概述了繁育计划的成功。
“The future of wētāpunga is looking bright,” said Dr Chris Green, an honorary researcher at the department of conservation, who documented the success of the project for the New Zealand Journal of Zoology. Green co-authored a report released on 2 October that outlines the success of the breeding programme.
“放归11,000只个体是非凡且卓越的成就。”雌性巨型维塔的体重可达一只老鼠那么重。其体长可达10厘米（近4英寸），腿展可宽达20厘米。
“Eleven thousand individuals for release is extraordinary and outstanding.”A female wētāpunga can weigh as much as a mouse. Its body can grow up to 10cm long (nearly 4in) and its leg span can be as wide as 20cm.
它是70种维塔中体型最大的一种，曾分布于北岛部分地区，但由于外来物种捕食和栖息地丧失导致数量下降。到20世纪90年代，它们被列为“濒危”，现在被推定在新西兰大陆野外已灭绝。
It is the largest of 70 wētā species and was once found across parts of the North Island before predation from introduced species and habitat loss contributed to their decline. By the 1990s, they were considered “endangered” and are now presumed extinct in the wild on New Zealand’s mainland.
这些昆虫主要栖息在奥克兰豪拉基湾和诺斯兰海岸外为数不多的无捕食者岛屿上。
The insects reside primarily on a smattering of predator-free islands in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf and off the coast of Northland.
但它们的命运开始好转。在过去15年里，蝴蝶溪野生动物园和奥克兰动物园已繁育了数万只巨型维塔，使得巨型维塔得以被放归至新的无捕食者岛屿以及奥克兰以北的一些大陆保护区。
But their fortune is starting to change. Over the past 15 years, tens of thousands of wētāpunga have been bred at Butterfly Creek, a wildlife facility, and Auckland zoo, enabling the release of wētāpunga across new predator-free islands and some mainland reserves north of Auckland.
蝴蝶溪和奥克兰动物园建立了饲养技术，随着时间的推移，这些技术已扩大规模，在集体育幼场中饲养大量巨型维塔。幼年巨型维塔——即若虫——食用由新鲜叶片、鱼片蛋白和落叶组成的三部分饲料。格林表示，这种蛋白质对最年轻的若虫存活“至关重要”。
Butterfly Creek and Auckland zoo established husbandry techniques that, over time, have been scaled up to rear large numbers of wētāpunga in communal creches. The young wētāpunga – or nymphs – are fed a three-part diet of fresh foliage, fish flake protein and leaf litter. The protein is “critical” to the survival of the youngest nymphs, Green said.
一旦昆虫长大到足以自我保护，它们就会被转移到新的栖息地。这些努力已促成 45 次向野生栖息地的单独迁移，格林表示，这“在任何物种的恢复中都是一个非常高的数字”。
Once big enough to protect themselves, the insects are transferred to their new habitat. The efforts have led to 45 separate translocations to wild habitats, which is “a very high number in any recovery of a species”, Green said.
对两座岛屿的监测显示，巨型湿地獭已建立起自我维持的种群，那里已诞生第四代和第五代个体，格林表示这是成功的标志。因此，该物种的保护状况已从“国家濒危”改善为“国家恢复中”。
Monitoring on two islands has shown wētāpunga have established self-sustaining populations, with fourth and fifth generations born there, in what Green said was a marker of success. As a result, the species’ conservation status has improved from “nationally endangered” to “nationally recovering”.
“这太令人兴奋了，因为我们无法就如此多其他受威胁物种报告这种情况，”格林说。
“It’s so exciting, because we are unable to report that for so many of our other threatened species,” Green said.
新西兰因其高特有率和外来害虫问题，特别容易受到物种衰退的影响。
New Zealand is particularly vulnerable to species decline because of its high rates of endemism and problems with introduced pests.
格林表示，该国处于无脊椎动物恢复工作的前沿，他不知道还有其他繁育计划能达到这种规模或取得如此成功的例子。通过记录该项目的工作，他希望能鼓励其他机构开发自己的计划。
Green said the country was at the forefront of invertebrate recovery work and he was not aware of any other examples of breeding programmes working to this scale, or with such success. By documenting the project’s work, he hopes other institutions will feel encouraged to develop their own programmes.
“这才是非凡之处——我们取得了成功，”他说。“如果其他机构也能达到这种地位，那么新西兰的受威胁物种将获得巨大益处。”
“That’s the extraordinary aspect of it – that we’ve been successful,” he said. “If other institutions can get into that sort of position, then there can be huge benefit for threatened species in New Zealand.”