Časoris is an online newspaper aimed at children. Each week we’ll take an article and post it here as a Slovene-English dual text.
Slonji mladič je takoj po rojstvu pripravljen za potovanje
A baby elephant is ready to travel right after being born
Written by Dora Adamič translated by JL Flanner & G Translate
Sloni so največje kopenske živali na svetu.
Elephants are the largest land animals in the world.
Živijo v čredah, ki jih vodijo najstarejše samice v skupini, saj jim življenje v skupnosti omogoča lažji dostop do hrane, nudi zavetje in zagotavlja varnost.
They live in herds led by the oldest females in the group, as living in the community gives them easier access to food, shelter and security.
Toda sloni so zelo nepotrpežljivi, ko potujejo v skupinah.
But elephants are very impatient when traveling in groups.
Nedavna raziskava je pokazala, da se čreda ne ustavi niti, ko samica skoti mladiča.
Recent research has shown that the herd does not stop even when the female gives birth to a calf.
Da najdejo dovolj hrane in vode za vse, se morajo namreč ves čas premikati.
In order to find enough food and water for everyone, they have to move all the time.
Na to so se sloni skozi leta prilagodili.
Elephants have adapted to this over the years.
Slonje samice so med vsemi sesalci najdlje breje; kar 22 mesecev. To je skoraj dve leti!
Female elephants have the longest pregancy of all mammals – as much as 22 months. That's almost two years!
Mladič se skoti popolnoma razvit in je takoj sposoben samostojno nadaljevati pot.
The calf is born fully developed and is immediately able to move on its own.
Kako so znanstveniki odkrili, da mati in mladič ostajata s čredo?
How did scientists discover that the mother and calf stay with the herd?
Z ovratnicami so spremljali smer in hitrost njihovega premikanja. Nato so izračunali povprečno hitrost posameznih samic in primerjali, ali se je ta spreminjala pred in med skotitvijo ter po njej.
They used collars to monitor the direction and speed of their movement. They then calculated the average speed of individual females and examined whether it changed before, during, and after giving birth.
Povprečna hitrost črede oziroma breje matere se ni nikoli bistveno spremenila.
The average speed of the herd or pregnant mother never changed significantly.
Tudi najstarejša samica, ki vodi čredo, lahko skoti mladiča. To je še en dokaz, kako močne so slonje samice. – dr. Lucy Taylor, glavna avtorica raziskave
Even the oldest female leading a herd can give birth to a calf. This is further proof of how strong female elephants are. – Dr. Lucy Taylor, lead author of the study
Raziskovalci so meritve izvedli blizu naravnega rezervata, kjer so sloni varnejši in se zato počasneje premikajo.
The researchers performed the measurements near a nature reserve, where elephants are safer and therefore move more slowly.
Če bi se čreda soočila z nevarnostjo, bi bila verjetno hitrejša. Izčrpana mati z mladičem bi ji težje sledila. To bi ju lahko stalo življenja.
If the herd faced danger, it would probably be faster. An exhausted mother with a calf would find it harder to follow her. It could cost them their lives.
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