VOA慢速英语2018 非洲大型动物数量在战争期间锐减（在线收听）

Africa's Largest Animals Decrease in Wartime

War can be deadly for wildlife, too. A new study reports that war is the biggest threat to Africa's elephants, rhinoceroses, and other animals.

War can be deadly for wildlife, too.A new study reports that war is the biggest threat to Africa’s elephants, rhinoceroses, and other animals.

战争对野生动物也是致命的。一份新的研究报告显示，战争对非洲的大象、犀牛和其他动物来说是最大的威胁。

Researchers examined how years of conflict in Africa have affected populations of large animals.More than 70 percent of Africa’s protected wildlife areas have been within a war zone at some point in the last 70 years.

研究人员调查了非洲发生的冲突如何影响了大型动物的数量。过去70年中的某段时间内，百分之七十多的非洲保护动物都生活在战争区域。

The more frequent the fighting, the greater the drop in animal populations, said Josh Daskin, an ecologist at Yale University.He was the lead author of the study, which was published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

冲突越频繁，动物数量减少地越多，耶鲁大学生物学家乔希.达思肯说道。他是这项调查的首席研究员，该项研究报告周三发表在了《自然》杂志上。

It takes very little conflict, as much as one conflict in about 20 years, for the average wildlife population to be declining, Daskin said.

“非常小的冲突，哪怕是20年发生一次冲突，也会造成野生动植物平均数量的下降，”达思肯说道。 

Areas with frequent fighting — but not necessarily the bloodiest fighting—lose 35 percent of their large animal populations during each year of war, he said.

他指出，每一年的战争期间，在冲突频繁的区域，不一定是爆发最血腥的冲突，大型动物的数量会减少百分之三十五。

Some animals get killed by weapons of war.Yet, many also die because of changes in social and economic conditions in an area as a result of war, said Rob Pringle.He is an ecologist at Princeton University and the study’s co-author.

一些动物被战争武器杀害。但是很多动物都因战争导致的该区域社会和经济条件的变化而死亡，罗伯.普林格尔说道。他是普林斯顿大学的经济学家，也是该项研究的合著者。

People in and around war zones are poor and hungrier.So they may begin to illegally hunt animals for valuable tusks or hunt protected animals to eat, Pringle said.And during wartime, animal conservation programs do not have as much money or power to protect wildlife.

战争区域内及附近的人们既贫穷又饥饿。所以他们会开始非法猎杀动物取其珍贵的长牙或猎杀保护动物来填饱肚子。战争期间，动物保护项目也没有足够的钱和力量去保护野生动物。

Most of the time, wildlife populations do survive.Researchers have found only six examples of entire animal populations being destroyed by war.A large group of giraffes in a Uganda park, for example, died out between 1983 and 1995 during two civil wars.

大多数时候，野生动物可以存活下来。研究人员发现只有六种动物完全被战争摧毁。例如，乌干达一个公园中的大型长颈鹿群在1983年到1995年的两次内战中灭绝。

The new study examined the entire African continent over 65 years.The researchers looked at 10 different factors that could change population numbers.They included war, drought, animal size, protected areas and human population density.

这项新研究调查了65年间整个非洲大陆的情况。研究人员发现了10种可能改变动物数量的不同因素。其中包括战争、干旱、动物的大小、受保护的区域以及人口密集度。

The number of wars had the biggest effect on wildlife population.The intensity of the wars — measured in the number of human deaths — had the least effect on animals.

战争的次数对野生动物的数量有最大的影响。战争的强度，以人类的死亡人数来计算，对动物的影响最小。

Greg Carr is head of a nonprofit group that works in and around Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique.He said the study’s findings are not surprising.He said Gorongosa’s wildlife populations fell during the country’s civil war.However, that was caused more by poverty than war, Carr said.

格雷格.凯尔是一家非盈利组织的负责人。该组织在莫桑比克戈龙戈萨国家公园内及周边开展工作。他说这项研究发现并不让人意外。他说戈龙戈萨的野生动物数量在该国内战期间下降了。然而贫穷造成的影响比战争更大，凯尔说道。

With or without war, poverty is the threat to wildlife in Africa going forward, he said in an email to the Associated Press.

“无论有没有战争，贫穷都威胁着非洲野生动物的发展，”他在给美联社的一封邮件中写道。 

Gorongosa is an example of how bad war is for wildlife.But it is also an example of how quickly wildlife populations can recover, researchers say.

戈龙戈萨是战争对野生动物造成负面影响的一个例子。但它也是野生动物的数量快速恢复的一个例子，研究人员说道。

Mozambique’s civil war ended in 1992.The war hurt its animal populations.Rebel and government soldiers hunted much of the wildlife in Gorongosa, Daskin said.Species came close to disappearing.But today, Daskin said, wildlife is back to 80 percent of pre-war levels.

莫桑比克的内战结束于1992年。战争造成动物数量锐减。反对派及政府士兵猎杀了戈龙戈萨大量的野生动物。一些物种几乎灭绝。但如今，达思肯说，野生动物的数量已经恢复到战前的百分之八十。

The effect of war on wildlife is bad, Pringle said.But it’s not apocalyptic.

“战争对野生动物的影响恶劣”普林格尔说，“但这并不代表大难临头。” 

Words in This Story

Elephant – n. a very large gray animal that has a long, flexible nose and two long tusks

Rhinoceros - n. a large, heavy animal of Africa and Asia that has thick skin and either one or two large horns on its nose

Tusk – n. a very long, large tooth that sticks out of the mouth of an animal

Giraffe - n. a very tall African animal that has an extremely long neck and legs

Apocalyptic - adj. involving