唯有在日本的冬季，才见得到这个群鹤共食的奇观和其它特殊景致。这里聚集的动物种类之多令人称奇，从鹤、鹰、雪猴到梅花鹿都有;它们栖息在北海道及日本主岛本州岛的山区间，在自然或人造的小庇护区内度过严冬。在这些地点找寻庇护的动物，有些数量很多、甚至过多;有些则很稀有，正因人类的猎杀而处于灭绝边缘，或是因人类造成的压力而逐渐离开最后的自然堡垒。其中有些动物正处于生存的严冬，多亏有些人不畏艰难地在种种不利条件下努力，它们才能继续生存。

　　The concentration of these creatures in small shards of habitat on a crowded island nation creates scenes of startling beauty—and sometimes, startling conflict. I've come to Hokkaido to learn what lessons might underlie these spectacles, what they might teach us about wildness and survival and the riddle of our own relations to nature.

　　在日本这个拥挤的岛国上，这些动物集中在几块小栖息地上，创造出如此惊人的美丽──有时也会造成惊人的冲突。我之所以来到北海道，就是为了找出这些奇景背后可能的意义，看它们能否让我们更加了解原野、了解生存之道，以及人类与自然之间的不解之迷。

　　Winter brings 2,000 Steller's sea-eagles to the coast of Hokkaido—almost a third of the species' population. Come spring, they head north to Russia to breed. With a wingspan of up to nine feet (two meters) and weight of up to 20 pounds (ten kilograms), the Steller's far outsizes North America's bald eagle.

　　冬天，2000只虎头海雕来到北海道海岸，这个数字占了该物种总数量的三分之一。春天一到，它们都前往北方的俄罗斯繁殖。翼展几达三公尺、重可达九公斤的虎头海雕，体型上远超过北美洲的白头海雕。

　　Even cloaked in ice, an oldsquaw duck finds Hokkaido's winter climate bearable. The ducks' densely packed feathers trap enough air to insulate them from frigid waters.

　　即使身上被冰块覆盖，这只长尾鸭还是经得起北海道冬天的气候;这是因为它紧密的羽毛能够留住足够空气，让它在冰寒的水中保持温暖。

　　It may be called the Jigokudani Wild Monkey Park, but the Japanese macaques here have taken up one of life's more civilized pleasures: hot tubbing. A series of hot springs help keep the monkeys warm through the cold winters. Also known as snow monkeys, Japanese macaques are the world's northernmost non-human primates.

　　这里虽然名为“地狱谷野生猴园”，但这里的日本猕猴已经开始享受生命中比较文明的乐趣：泡热水澡。一连串火山池使猕猴能在酷寒的冬天保持温暖。日本猕猴又称为雪猴，是人类以外生活在地球最北方的灵长类动物。

　　Red-crowned cranes sing a "unison" call on Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan's main islands. Once almost extinct in Japan, hundreds of the revered cranes now winter here, helped by handouts of grain from local farmers.

　　丹顶鹤在日本最北的主岛北海道发出“齐鸣”。虽然丹顶鹤在日本备受崇敬，然而它们却一度几乎灭绝，现在有几百只在北海道过冬，当地农民以谷物喂食来帮助它们生存。

　　Punctuated by leaps that can reach ten feet, the dance of the red-crowned crane is so arresting that Japan actually named a city for it: Maizuru, or Dancing Crane.

　　丹顶鹤的舞蹈中也包含高达三米的跳跃，它们的舞蹈如此迷人，日本人甚至以它们的舞蹈为一座城市命名：舞鹤。

　　Too many animals, too little space: It's not an uncommon problem in Japan. Consider the Japanese macaque, a natural treasure and winter spectacle. These monkeys are famous for their cultural transmission behavior (young monkeys learn from their elders novel kinds of behaviors, from grooming techniques to food preparation) and for living farther north than any other primate except humans. Some 110,000 live in Japan, 7,000 of them in the cold, snowy alps of Honshu, where they have earned the moniker "snow monkey."

　　动物太多，空间太少：在日本，这是个常见的问题。日本的自然珍宝与冬季奇观日本猕猴就是一个例子。日本猕猴最出名的是它们的文化传递行为(幼猴会从年长猴处学习新的行为，从理毛技巧到食物处理)，它们也是人类以外，生活在地球最北处的灵长类动物。约有11万日本猕猴居住在日本，其中7000只住在本州岛寒冷而多雪的高山，使它们赢得了“雪猴”的别名。