Sitesh Ranjan Deb says his transformation from hunter to conservationist was triggered 20 years ago when he was attacked by a Himalayan black bear while out stalking deer. Early one morning in January, 1991, Deb, from northeastern Bangladesh, stumbled on the sleeping beast. With a single swipe of the bear's paw, Deb lost his right eye, most of his nose, several teeth, and a lot of cheekbone, and only emergency surgery saved his life.

戴布回憶說，20年前，他從獵人搖身一變成為保育人士，當時他正潛行獵鹿，不意竟遭一頭喜馬拉雅黑熊攻擊。1991年1月某天清晨，出生於孟加拉東北部的戴布，不慎被一頭沉睡中的猛獸絆倒，熊掌用力一揮，戴布當下失去右眼和大部分鼻子，還掉了幾顆牙，顴骨也大半不見了。當時全靠緊急手術救回一命。

He pulled the trigger of his 12-gauge before losing consciousness; the bear would be the last animal to die at Deb's hands. Immobilized for three months at a hospital in Dhaka, the capital, he reflected on his life. “My father was a brave man. His father was a brave man,” Deb says, eyeglasses perched on his reconstructed nose. “But something hit me inside. Why am I hunting? Why am I killing? ”

失去意識前，他扣動12口徑獵槍的扳機，這頭黑熊可能是死在戴布手中的最後一頭獵物。困在孟加拉首都達卡一家醫院3個月無法動彈的戴布，開始反思自己的人生：「我父親是條勇敢的漢子，父親的父親也是個勇士，但有什麼東西撼動了我的內心。為什麼我要打獵？為什麼我要殺生？」戴布說，眼鏡架在重建的鼻樑上。

Deb spent most of his life stalking game with a double-barreled shotgun. Now he's a conservationist in a country where wild animals and wild places are disappearing fast. A third-generation hunter, gunsmith and wilderness guide, his father and grandfather had reputations for slaying the man-eating leopards and crop-destroying wild boars that once roamed the villages and deep forests of Bangladesh's Srimongal district.

戴布大半輩子手持雙管獵槍靠獵殺野生動物維生，但如今他已是這個野生動物及其棲息地正迅速消失的國度的保育人士。身為第3代獵人、修槍匠和荒野導覽，他父親和祖父均以殺死孟加拉施里蒙加區在村子裡和密林中到處出沒吃人的豹子和毀壞作物的野豬知名。

“I lost one eye in that attack, but it changed the way I wanted to relate to wildlife,” he said at his home in Srimongal, where he runs a renowned animal rescue centre. “Many of the species I grew up with -- wild boars, leopards -- are hardly ever seen now. These animals are in their last days. Illegal logging has damaged the forest so much there is no food for the animals. Unless we act now, they'll be gone forever in a few years.”

他在施里蒙加區的家中說：「在那次攻擊中我失去了一隻眼睛，但它也改變了我想和野生動物建立關係的模式。」他在這裡經營一家知名的動物救助中心。「很多跟我一起長大的物種像野豬和豹，現在幾乎已經銷聲匿跡。這些動物已經來日無多了。非法濫伐破壞森林，使動物無法覓食維生。除非我們現在就採取行動，否則牠們將在數年內永遠消失。」

Deb, 62, nurses injured wild animals brought to him by villagers back to health. Even Deb's family home is filled with animals, the more “difficult cases” which need 24-hour care. Two jungle cat cubs（photo 1, AFP）, a baby python and a badly-injured Slow Loris (a primate species) are currently in residence. “So far, I've freed more than 1,000 animals and that's not counting 2,000 birds,” he said, displaying photographs of many former patients. For some animals, such as the two hand-reared two-year-old bears, his zoo may be their final home. “I can't set the bears free as the jungles are no longer large enough to provide them with food and there are too many poachers,” he said sadly, as he fed Rambo and Jumbo slices of pumpkin .

62歲的戴布照護村民帶給他的受傷的野生動物，使牠們康復。連戴布家也養了一屋子動物，這些動物有更多「疑難雜症」，需要24小時照護。兩隻叢林貓幼崽、一隻蟒蛇寶寶和一隻受重傷的懶猴（靈長類物種），目前都豢養在他家裡。「到目前為止，我已經野放1000多隻動物，這還不包括2000隻小鳥。」他邊說邊展示過去他所照料的「病人」的照片。其中一些動物，像他親手帶大的那兩頭2歲大的黑熊，他的動物園可能是他們最後的家園。「我不能野放這些熊，因為叢林已無法提供牠們足夠的食物，而且偷獵者太多了。」他傷心地說，一邊拿幾片南瓜餵那兩頭熊藍波和巨霸（圖／法新社）。

Some 200 kilometres northeast of the capital Dhaka, Lawachara forest was once home to more than 460 species of animal. But decades of illegal logging and human encroachment for farming mean only 1,250 hectares of forest now remain, and even there, the tree-cover is not dense enough to support many species. Experts say it has shrunk by 90 percent as a three-fold increase in Bangladesh's population in the last four decades has taken its toll, turning previously dense forest into small islands surrounded by villages.

距首都達卡東北約200公里的洛瓦查拉森林裡一度有逾460種動物。但經過數十年來非法濫伐和人類侵占土地進行農作，目前只剩1250公頃林地，即使在森林裡，森林覆蓋率也不夠密實，不足以飼養太多物種。專家說，過去40年來，孟加拉人口增加3倍，使林地急縮90%，這也付出慘痛的代價，原先茂密的森林已淪為被村落包圍的無數小島。

According to the local forest ranger, A.K.M Azharul Islam, well-organised illegal logging gangs are making it difficult for his team to protect the remaining forest. He said, “There are so many illegal loggers and they're armed with sophisticated weapons -- I've only got 18 men and we're mostly unarmed. In June, three forest rangers were beaten up and seriously injured by loggers.” Islam says Deb helps the forest rangers -- tipping them off with any intelligence about poachers or when villagers may be killing endangered wildlife. “I've never seen anyone so dedicated to nursing wild animals, he helps us when animals are found hurt by illegal loggers or poachers.”

據當地護林員伊斯蘭表示，組織嚴密的非法盜林幫派，使他的團隊難以保護殘餘的森林。他說：「這麼多非法伐木者配備先進的武器，而我只有18名手下，而且我們大多手無寸鐵。6月間，3名護林員被盜伐林木者毆打，受了重傷。」伊斯蘭還說，戴布幫助護林員，有人盜伐林木或村民濫殺瀕危野生動物時，他會即時向我們通報：「我還從沒有見過這麼致力於養護野生動物的人，一發現動物被非法伐木或偷獵者傷害時，他就主動伸出援手。」

At Deb's mini-zoo, a baby python -- which he hand-raised on insects after workers found it in a tea plantation -- is ready to be released, and he carefully carries the three-foot-long snake deep into the remaining jungle. Every time he frees an animal, he invites local politicians, journalists and forestry officials to draw attention to the plight of the forest and its inhabitants. “To save these valuable gifts of nature, you don't need to go to anyone else for help. You just do it,” he said, as he nonchalantly flipped the baby python away and watched it glide into the jungle.

在戴布的迷你動物園，一隻他親手用昆蟲飼養長大的小蟒蛇正準備放生，他把這隻工人在茶園裡發現的3呎長小蟒蛇小心翼翼帶到殘存的叢林深處。每當他野放動物時，就會邀當地政界人士、記者和林業官員到場觀禮，以提醒他們注意森林及其「住客」的困境。「為了搶救這些珍貴的大自然禮物，其實沒必要求助於任何人，你只要去做就行了。」他一邊說，一邊若無其事地翻動蟒蛇寶寶，看著牠悄然離開，溜進叢林裡。