1884年，圣克鲁瓦岛的甘蔗田遭遇老鼠泛滥，一种小型掠食动物似乎成了完美的解决方案。根据妮可·安杰利和李·菲茨杰拉德在《Oryx》期刊上发表的一项研究，人们将小印度獴引入该岛以控制老鼠。在随后的几十年里，一种本土蜥蜴从其历史分布区的几乎所有区域消失，獴对此负有责任。
In 1884, St. Croix had a rat problem in its sugarcane fields, and a small predator seemed like the perfect answer. According to a study in the journal Oryx by Nicole Angeli and Lee Fitzgerald, small Indian mongooses were brought to the island to control those rats. Over the following decades, a native lizard disappeared from nearly all of its historic range there, and mongooses had a hand in that.
防治害虫适得其反圣克鲁瓦岛面积约218平方公里（约合21,800公顷）。1754年至1800年间，该岛种植园从棉花转为甘蔗。老鼠成为田间害虫，因此人们于1884年释放獴以控制它们。岛屿景观也在发生变化。研究指出，到1917年，该岛近90%的原生森林和林地已为耕作或伐木而被砍伐。獴正是在这些变化中途到达的。
Pest fix gone wrongSt. Croix is about 218 square kilometers (roughly 21,800 hectares). Between 1754 and 1800, its plantations shifted from cotton to sugarcane. Rats became a problem in those fields, so mongooses were released in 1884 to control them. The island’s landscape was changing too. By 1917, nearly 90% of the island’s native forests and woodlands had been cleared for farming or logging, the study notes. The mongoose arrived in the middle of those changes.
两种本土动物陷入困境圣克鲁瓦地蜥是一种小型动物，以落叶层中的微小动物为食。安杰利和菲茨杰拉德指出，该蜥蜴已从主岛上其历史分布区的99.97%范围内消失。研究人员表示，这种消失可能有两个原因。首先，农田取代了其栖息地；其次，獴捕食了它。到1920年，蜥蜴已从岛屿东部消失。1969年，在弗雷德里克斯塔德镇仍能见到它们。
Two native animals in troubleThe St. Croix ground lizard is a small animal. It preys on tiny animals in the leaf litter. Angeli and Fitzgerald note that the lizard vanished from 99.97% of its historic range on the main island. The researchers say that this loss could be because of two reasons. First, farmland had replaced its habitat, and second, mongooses hunted it. Lizards had disappeared from the eastern part of the island by 1920. The ones were seen in the town of Frederiksted in 1969.
圣克鲁瓦游蛇是一种仅见于该岛的蛇类。迈克尔·特雷利亚及其同事2013年在《加勒比科学杂志》上发表的一篇论文将其列为该岛的特有爬行动物之一，并称其已灭绝。该研究还将獴描绘成一种凶猛的掠食者，严重破坏了岛屿的生物多样性。然而，该论文并未提供关于蛇类遭遇的许多细节，因此最好不要过度简化。
The St. Croix racer is a snake found only on this island. A 2013 paper by Michael Treglia and colleagues in the Caribbean Journal of Science lists it as one of the island’s endemic reptiles and says it is extinct. The study also paints the mongoose as an aggressive predator that has devastated the island's biodiversity. However, the paper doesn't provide many details on what happened to the snake, so it's best not to oversimplify.
海上孤岛上的生存两群蜥蜴设法在近海的小岛上存活下来，即新教岛和格林岛。这些岛屿上没有獴。
Hanging on at seaTwo lizard groups managed to survive on small islands off the shore, the Protestant Cay and the Green Cay. Mongooses were not present on these islands.
科学家又将蜥蜴引入了另外两座岛屿。1989年，9只蜥蜴被引入鲁斯岛；2008年，57只蜥蜴被带到巴克岛。据安杰利和菲茨杰拉德称，这四座岛上约有3000只蜥蜴存活，其中2000多只在巴克岛。这些岛屿总面积仅85公顷，因此飓风等风暴仍构成威胁。特雷利亚及其同事发出了另一项警告。波多黎各地蜥于2006年首次在圣克罗伊岛被发现。如果它蔓延到这些小岛，可能会捕食本地蜥蜴并与其争夺食物。它们能回家吗？
Scientists introduced lizards to two more islands. Nine lizards were introduced to Ruth Island in 1989, while 57 lizards were brought to Buck Island in 2008. According to Angeli and Fitzgerald, there are about 3,000 lizards surviving on these four islands, and more than 2,000 of them are on Buck Island. Together, the islands cover only 85 hectares, so storms like hurricanes are still a risk. Another warning comes from Treglia and colleagues. The Puerto Rican ground lizard was first reported in St. Croix in 2006. If it reaches the cays, it may prey on and compete with the native lizard for food. Could they come home?
到20世纪50年代末，甘蔗种植几近结束，森林开始恢复。即便如此，重新引入主岛长期以来被认为不明智，因为人们预期獴会阻止任何新种群建立起来。《Oryx》杂志的作者们认为，再生的栖息地往往为重新引入创造了新机会，尽管捕食者依然存在。他们发现，如今的土地类型组合在统计学上与1750年绘制的一张地图相似。
By the late 1950s, sugarcane farming nearly ended, and forests started coming back. Even then, reintroduction to the main island was long considered unwise, because mongooses were expected to prevent any new population from taking hold. The Oryx authors argue that the regrown habitat often creates new opportunities for reintroduction even though the predators remain. They found that today’s mix of land types is statistically similar to a map drawn back in 1750.
他们的模型显示，该岛可支持超过14.2万只蜥蜴。獴仍然在那里，圣克罗伊岛仅有3.65%的区域无獴。因此，作者按面积和适宜栖息地对地点进行排序，优先考虑已实施或可实施獴控制的地方。排名前三的分别是桑迪角国家野生动物保护区、阿尔图纳潟湖和绍斯盖特沿海保护区。重新引入计划定在2020年至2023年。2022年3月，美属维尔京群岛规划与自然资源部宣布，已在主岛上的两个实验种群中释放了蜥蜴，地点设在维尔京群岛大学湿地和桑迪角国家野生动物保护区，并将对其进行监测。
Their model indicates that the island could support more than 142,000 lizards. The mongooses are still there, and only 3.65% of St. Croix is mongoose-free. So the authors ranked sites by size and suitable habitat, giving priority to places where mongoose control is already in place or possible. Their top three were Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge, Altoona Lagoon, and the Southgate Coastal Reserve. Reintroductions were planned for 2020 to 2023. In March 2022, the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources announced it had released two experimental populations, in enclosures, onto the main island, at the University of the Virgin Islands wetlands and the Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge, where they will be monitored.
一种动物被引入以解决一个问题，却留下了长达百余年的影响。但这还不是故事的结局。
One animal, brought in to solve one problem, ended up leaving a mark for well over a hundred years. But that's not the end of the story.
凭借扎实的科学研究和一点耐心，这种蜥蜴或许就能重返它曾经栖息的岛屿。
With good science and little patience, the lizard might just return to the island it once called home.