美国野生动物专家日前表示，夏威夷群岛上最为珍贵稀有的po'ouli鸟正面临着灭绝的危险。在人们已知的最后3只po'ouli鸟中，有两只下落不明，另外惟一1只人工饲养的po'ouli鸟已于上周五死亡。

　　据英国《太阳报》网站12月1日报道，美国野生动物专家介绍说，去年这只雄性po'ouli鸟被人们捕获后，它就一直生活在美国一所野生动物保护中心里，但是那里的工作人员无法给它找到合适的伴侣。上个星期，这只人工饲养的po'ouli鸟因为感染上了鸟类疟疾而死亡，使这种珍稀鸟类处在一种十分危急的状况中，面临着灭绝的危险。

　　野生动物专家希望另外一对po'ouli鸟能够生存下来。但是，仅存的这两只po'ouli鸟(一雌一雄)已经有大约一年多的时间没有被发现了，专家们担心它们已经遭遇了不测。

　　美国渔业及野生动物管理局的官员埃里克·范迪沃夫表示，po'ouli鸟是世界上最稀有的鸟类之一，是独一无二的。他说：“如果po'ouli鸟灭绝了，我们就再也找不到和它一样的了。就好像《蒙娜丽莎》或西斯廷教堂一样，如果失去了就再也找不回来了。”

　　目前，有关工作人员正在夏威夷群岛中的第二大岛屿——毛伊岛人迹罕至的雨林中搜寻另外两只po'ouli鸟的踪迹。科研工作者还在已经死亡的po'ouli鸟的尸体上提取了组织标本，并将其低温保存，以备将来可能进行的“克隆”po'ouli鸟时使用。

　　报道说，po'ouli鸟又被称为夏威夷蜜旋木雀(Hawaiian honeycreeper)，栖息在美国夏威夷群岛上，并以它那独特的黑脸颊而著称。po'ouli鸟自从1973年被发现后，由于栖息地遭到破坏以及一些食肉性动物(如猫和猫鼬)的引入等原因，其数量就在不断地减少。据野生动物专家统计，2003年这种鸟类的数量仅剩下3只。(王高山)

　　One of the world's last known po'ouli birds has died and experts fear it may now have gone into extinction.

　　The ageing male passed away in captivity in the US on Friday shortly after contracting avian malaria. Wildlife experts had hoped there were two more of the birds - famous for their bandit-style black face - still alive.

　　But the remaining pair - a male and female - have not been spotted for over a year and are feared dead.

　　US Fish and Wildlife Service recovery chief Eric VanderWerf said the species - also known as the Hawaiian honeycreeper- were a unique part of Earth's history.

　　He added: "We'll never have another one like it if it disappears. I kind of liken it in some way to the loss of the Mona Lisa or the Sistine Chapel. If we lost that, we could never get it back."

　　The bird had been kept at a conservation centre since it was captured for breeding last year - but staff were unable to catch him a mate.

　　Tissue samples from the dead male were saved for cryogenic preservation for possible cloning in the future.

　　Officials are now searching the remote rainforests of Maui for the two missing birds.

　　The po'ouli's numbers have dwindled since it was discovered in 1973 because of a loss of habitat and the introduction of predators like rats, cats and mongoose.