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科学 · 朗塔拉纳纳岛针鼹

朗塔拉纳纳岛“最孤独的针鼹”很可能有同伴——但究竟有多少只？

相距约8公里的相机记录表明，朗塔拉纳纳岛上幸存的针鼹并非独自生活。对正在修复这片土地的护林员而言，这是有价值的证据，但还不能证明种群正在恢复。

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在一座岛上，直到最近护林员还担心可能只剩下一只针鼹，如今究竟有多少只针鼹藏身于此？

在巴斯海峡的朗塔拉纳纳岛上，答案正变得更令人乐观，但还无法得出具体数量。相距约8公里的地点所拍摄的野外相机记录，进一步支持了这样一种判断：这只曾被昵称为“澳大利亚最孤独的针鼹”的动物并非独自生活。记录显示它们的分布范围比最初照片所显示的更广，但这些记录本身并不意味着种群正在恢复。⁠2

世界自然基金会澳大利亚分会2026年11月5日公告中最有力的新证据，是一张于8月23日在岛上简易机场附近拍摄的照片，以及另一张于10月20日在南部丽贝卡湾拍摄的照片。塔斯马尼亚大学针鼹专家、副教授斯图尔特·尼科尔认为，所有观测都涉及同一只动物的可能性极低。目前还没有人确定这些观测记录对应多少个体。⁠2

这一点对正在修复这座原住民所有岛屿的帕卡纳护林员而言至关重要。了解哪些生物幸存下来，是保护它们的起点。但11月的公告汇集的是多年累积的观测记录，并非在公告发布当天才发现的情况。

从一个地点到多个地点

朗塔拉纳纳岛也称克拉克岛，位于塔斯马尼亚东北海岸外的弗诺群岛。该岛于2005年归还原住民所有。澳大利亚广播公司新闻报道称，该岛面积约为8,230公顷。塔斯马尼亚原住民中心牵头开展修复工作，护林员负责管理杂草、进行文化性烧荒和监测野生动物。针鼹在塔斯马尼亚原住民语言帕拉瓦卡尼语中称为trimanya。⁠1

最初的照片证据来自西部茶树灌木丛中的一个相机点位。2023年拍摄的两张照片相隔数月，起初被认为拍到的是同一只动物。护林员直到2024年11月才确认这些照片的内容：审阅图像的工作必须穿插在繁忙的土地管理工作之中。到2025年3月20日，这一重新发现的消息已公开；当时世界自然基金会提出疑问：这会不会是岛上唯一幸存的针鼹？那只是一个问题，从未被确认为种群数量。⁠6

证据如何逐渐增多

  1. 2023年8月1日和11月

    相机在西部茶树灌木丛的同一地点两次拍到针鼹。

    62
  2. 2024年11月

    护林员在审阅图像时确认了最初的照片。

    6
  3. 2025年10月和2026年1月

    相机在一处泻湖旁拍到针鼹，距离最初的拍摄地点以东超过4公里。

    2
  4. 2026年8月23日

    相机在简易机场附近拍到针鼹。

    2
  5. 2026年9月19日

    护林员塔莎·库珀在泻湖附近的野猫陷阱中发现一只针鼹。

    2
  6. 2026年10月20日

    相机在丽贝卡湾拍到针鼹，距简易机场的拍摄点约8公里。

    2

库珀的遭遇是几十年来岛上首次有记录的护林员与针鼹面对面相遇。当时她正在学习诱捕野猫，走近一个笼子时，以为又有一只乌鸦钻了进去。没想到，里面蜷着一只针鼹。她告诉澳大利亚广播公司：“我激动得不知所措，不知道自己会哭、会尖叫，还是会做什么。”⁠1

这只动物看起来很平静，竖起刺进行防御。库珀用一根棍子撑开笼门，随后继续履行职责。几个小时后，针鼹还在那里，于是她轻轻地把它引了出来。它开始在沙地里挖掘，保护腹部。世界自然基金会的公告明确将这次遭遇定于2026年9月19日；这是一次意外捕获到幸存动物的事件，并非重新引入物种。⁠2

为何目击增多不等于种群增长

目前按日期排列的相机记录共有6次探测：2023年2次、2025年1次、2026年3次。6条记录并不意味着发现了6只不同的动物。在不同地点拍到的照片，也不能自动证明拍到的是不同个体。⁠1⁠2

尼科尔在世界自然基金会的公告中说：“针鼹一夜之间轻轻松松就能走上几公里，繁殖季节的雄性还会走得更远。”即便考虑到这种活动范围，他仍认为只有一只动物的解释极不可能，并表示护林员可能还没发现许多其他针鼹。⁠2

他的判断部分依据来自塔斯马尼亚南部米德兰兹地区的测量数据：雄性有90%的活动范围在60公顷内，雌性则在35公顷内。这些数据有助于解释他对距离的判断，但并非朗塔拉纳纳岛针鼹的测量结果，也不能据此换算出岛上的种群总数。⁠2

尼科尔在接受澳大利亚广播公司采访时说，如果岛上生活的针鼹不到12只，他会感到惊讶；他还表示，数量可能超过20只或30只。这只是专家的初步评估，并非普查结果。他强调，针鼹行踪隐秘，不跟踪就很难估算数量。⁠1

因此，现有证据支持三种确定程度各不相同的说法：针鼹确实存在；很可能有多只；总数仍然未知。证据并不能证明针鼹正在繁殖、种群正在增长，或有多少只在2014年岛上那场毁灭性丛林大火中幸存。增加相机数量、扩大搜寻范围，也会提高发现它们的机会。不断增加的照片记录，可能只是让人们发现原本就在那里生活的动物。

对这片土地而言，幸存意味着什么

对针鼹可能消失的担忧有着严峻的现实依据。欧洲殖民带来了为绵羊和牛开垦牧场的土地清理活动、捕食野生动物的外来猫，也使传统土地所有者无法进行传统的文化性烧荒。2014年的大火随后重创了这座岛屿。世界自然基金会指出，针鼹和塔斯马尼亚袋鼠是已知在殖民和那场大火中均幸存下来的岛上最大型哺乳动物。⁠6⁠2

目前的报道尚未明确火灾的准确蔓延范围。澳大利亚广播公司称“98%的植被”被毁，又称“岛上80%的面积”遭到焚毁。这是表述不同的两项数据，但其具体定义无从得知，不应将它们合并成一个确定的百分比。明确的结论是，针鼹在严重破坏后仍然幸存，而非种群已测得反弹。⁠1

绿领公司于2026年10月20日宣布正式启动修复项目，但工作并非从那天才开始。世界自然基金会早在2022年2月和7月就公开介绍过修复合作。后来的启动仪式是现有工作的一个里程碑，而非起点。⁠17⁠16⁠12

该项目的目标包括让至少6种当地已消失的物种重返岛上，其中包括贝内特氏袋鼠、长鼻鼠袋鼠和巴斯海峡群岛袋熊。在开展大规模修复和物种回归之前，清除野猫仍是优先事项。“在开始进行任何大规模修复之前，我们要确保它们已经清除，”健康土地护林员图阿恩·布朗告诉澳大利亚广播公司。⁠1

世界自然基金会提供了种子资金和野外相机，并继续支持由护林员主导的监测工作。护林员正在审阅数十万张图像。这项工作也在创造就业机会、提供培训，并促进代际知识传承：相机帮助照护这片土地的原住民了解还有哪些生物、它们在哪里，以及哪些地方需要保护。⁠2

这些照片让我看到了朗塔拉纳纳岛上仍然有多少生命。

塔玛拉·斯泰尔斯，行政与文化活动协调员 2

布朗认为，针鼹的目击记录是令人鼓舞的迹象，说明管理工作正在发挥作用。不过，要证明这种效果，光有更多照片还不够。目前尚未公布普查日期或跟踪结果。眼下的成果既比昔日那个昵称所暗示的更有限，也更有意义：护林员掌握了针鼹分布于朗塔拉纳纳岛多个相距较远地区的证据，也获得了更好的信息，能够照护那些挺过灾难的野生动物。⁠1⁠2

播出原貌
  1. Trail cameras recorded echidna sightings about eight kilometres apart on Lungtalanana. The animals survived on an island where fire and introduced predators had fuelled fears they'd disappeared. Their wider presence gives Aboriginal rangers valuable information as they restore Country. How many echidnas are living there, and what can these sightings tell us about their survival?
  2. Lungtalanana, also called Clarke Island, lies in Bass Strait's Furneaux group, off Tasmania's north-east coast. It returned to Aboriginal ownership in 2005. The island covers a reported 8,230 hectares, with Pakana rangers monitoring wildlife and managing the land.
  3. A camera photographed an echidna near the airstrip on August twenty-third. Another recorded one at Rebecca Bay in the south on October twentieth. Those locations are about eight kilometres apart, strengthening the case that several animals live on the island.
  4. The November fifth announcement brings together observations gathered over several years. Rangers recently recognised those airstrip and Rebecca Bay records while reviewing camera images. The photographs extend the known spread of sightings beyond the animal once nicknamed Australia's loneliest echidna.
  5. The first photograph dates to August first, 2023, with another that November. Rangers identified the images in November 2024. By March twentieth, 2025, the rediscovery was public, along with the question of whether this could be the island's only surviving echidna.
  6. Both original pictures came from the same western tea-tree scrub location, months apart, and were initially thought to show one animal. Reviewing images had to fit around the rangers' work on Country. These were the first reported echidna photographs there in decades.
  7. Increased camera monitoring produced records in October 2025 and January 2026 beside a lagoon. Thick reeds sheltered those sightings, more than four kilometres east of the original location. Rangers still couldn't tell whether one animal had travelled between them.
  8. The dated sequence now contains two camera records from 2023, one from 2025 and three from 2026. Six detections give rangers more places to investigate, but they don't identify six different animals.
  9. Tasha Cooper found an echidna inside a feral-cat trap on September nineteenth, 2026. She was learning to trap cats near the lagoon and expected another raven. Instead, she came face to face with an echidna, the first reported direct encounter in decades.
  10. “The excitement was overwhelming,” Cooper said. The animal appeared calm, with its quills raised defensively. She propped the cage open with a stick and continued working. Hours later, it was still inside. She gently encouraged it out, and it dug into the sand to protect its underbelly.
  11. University of Tasmania echidna expert Stewart Nicol thinks it's very unlikely all the observations show the same animal. Echidnas can travel several kilometres overnight, he says, and males travel further during breeding season. Even allowing for that movement, he suspects unseen animals remain.
  12. Nicol draws on measurements from Tasmania's southern Midlands. There, males made 90 percent of their movements within 60 hectares, and females within 35 hectares. That comparison helps explain his judgement about movement. It can't supply a population total for Lungtalanana.
  13. Nicol says he'd be surprised if fewer than a dozen echidnas lived there, and suggests possibly more than twenty or thirty. That's a tentative estimate. Their elusive behaviour makes counting difficult without tracking, and nobody yet knows the island's population.
  14. The photographs show survival across widely separated locations. More cameras and more searching also increase the chance of finding animals. Establishing population growth would require tracking change over time, beyond this growing collection of sightings.
  15. Echidnas and Tasmanian pademelons are the largest mammals known to have survived both European colonisation and the island's 2014 fire. Colonisation brought clearing for sheep and cattle, introduced cats that preyed on wildlife, and prevented Traditional Owners from practising cultural burning.
  16. The 2014 bushfire devastated the island. Its damage has been described as 98 percent of vegetation destroyed and 80 percent of the island burned. Those differently worded measures haven't been reconciled, so there's no single reliable percentage to give here.
  17. The Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre formally launched its restoration project on October twentieth, 2026. Work was already under way years earlier, with restoration collaboration publicly described in February and July 2022. Rangers remove weeds, conduct cultural burning and control invasive species while monitoring the wildlife that remains.
  18. The project aims to return at least six locally lost species. Bennett's wallabies, long-nosed potoroos and Bass Strait Islands wombats are among the planned returns. Feral-cat removal remains a priority before major rehabilitation and species reintroductions.
  19. WWF-Australia supplied seed funding and trail cameras and continues supporting ranger-led monitoring. Rangers are working through hundreds of thousands of images. Alongside that work, the project creates training and employment opportunities for Palawa people and strengthens connection to Country and knowledge shared between generations. Echidnas are called trimanya in palawa kani, the language of Tasmania's Aboriginal people.
  20. Healthy Country Ranger Tooarn Brown wants the feral cats gone before major rehabilitation begins. He sees the echidna sightings as a hopeful sign that management is helping. Measuring that effect will require more than additional photographs.
  21. The distances between records make several echidnas likely, while their total number remains unknown. Rangers haven't announced a date for a census or tracking results.

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