VOA慢速英语2019 干旱威胁南非的野生动物产业（在线收听）

Extreme drought is threatening South Africa's wildlife industry. Farmers are keeping fewer animals and vacationers are visiting in smaller numbers.

极端干旱正威胁着南非的野生动植物产业。农民饲养的动物更少，而度假者的游客数量更少。

Parts of the country have been affected by repeated years of hotter than normal weather and below average rainfall. The conditions have burned feeding grasses and dried up watering holes. In 2015, the area saw the driest year on record.

该国部分地区受到连续数年高于正常天气和低于平均降雨量的天气的影响。这种情况烧毁了喂草，干了浇水孔。 2015年是该地区有记录以来最干旱的一年。

The agency Wildlife Ranching South Africa (WRSA) collects data on more than 9,000 wildlife ranches in the nation. It estimates that the Northern Cape province has lost more than two-thirds of its game over the last three years. WRSA is talking to ranchers around the country to gather information on animal loss and the financial impact the drought is having.

南非野生动物牧场管理局（WRSA）收集了该国9000多个野生牧场的数据。据估计，北开普省在过去三年中输掉了超过三分之二的比赛。 WRSA正在与全国各地的牧场主交谈，以收集有关牲畜损失以及干旱造成的财务影响的信息。

WRSA chief Adri Kitshoff-Botha told Reuters News Agency the drought has continued for some time. "In some areas we've seen it has been going now for six years," she said.

WRSA负责人Adri Kitshoff-Botha告诉路透社，干旱持续了一段时间。她说：“在某些地区，我们已经看到它已经进行了六年。”

The wildlife industry brings money to South Africa's economy through tourism, hunting, breeding and meat production. Trophy hunting – the shooting of carefully chosen animals – made $140 million in 2016. That information comes from research by the environment ministry.

野生动物产业通过旅游，狩猎，繁殖和肉类生产为南非经济带来了收益。 2016年，奖杯狩猎（精心挑选的动物的射击）赚了1.4亿美元。这些信息来自环境部的研究。

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change notes Southern Africa's temperatures are rising at two times the world's average rate. And in much of South Africa, the level of water in manmade lakes is decreasing.

政府间气候变化专门委员会指出，南部非洲的气温上升速度是世界平均速度的两倍。在南非大部分地区，人造湖中的水位正在下降。

Burger Schoeman supervises the Thuru Lodge in the Northern Cape. There, the dying plants and dry grounds are a serious concern.

Burger Schoeman监督北开普省的Thuru Lodge。在那儿，垂死的植物和干燥的地面是一个严重的问题。

In the past, the lodge was home to around 4,500 wild animals – including 35 different species, from antelope to rhino. But it has lost around 1,000 animals because of the drought. Now, dead animals sit in old, unused mines on the edge of the property.

过去，旅馆是大约4,500种野生动物的家园，其中包括从羚羊到犀牛的35种不同物种。但是由于干旱，它已经失去了大约1000只动物。现在，死去的动物坐在财产边缘的古老未使用的矿井中。

Schoeman told reporters from the Reuters news agency, "At this stage we are quite stretched. All the money you get from selling the animals, the meat and all of that, gets put straight back into the property to look after the rest of the animals."

舒曼对路透社的记者说：“现阶段，我们已经很紧张了。从出售这些动物所得的全部收入，肉类以及所有这些，都直接投入了物业，以照顾其余的动物。 ”。

The lodge has seen its spending rise as it buys more feed for the animals. At the same time, hunters are paying less, and fewer tourists are visiting because the animals are in poor condition.

该旅馆的支出有所增加，因为它为动物购买了更多的饲料。同时，由于动物状况欠佳，猎人的收入减少了，游客参观的人数也减少了。

At the 48,000-hectare Karreekloof Safari Lodge in the same province, game rangers find dead animals every week.

在同一省的48,000公顷的Karreekloof Safari Lodge中，游戏巡游者每周都会发现死亡的动物。

Gideon Watts is the ranch supervisor there. "Nobody wants to buy the game, because they also (are experiencing) ... the same drought," he said. He added that his farm got only one-fourth of its usual rainfall this year.

吉迪恩·瓦茨（Gideon Watts）是那里的牧场主管。他说：“没有人愿意购买游戏，因为他们也（正在经历）……同样的干旱。”他补充说，他的农场今年的降雨量只有通常水平的四分之一。

The industry has seen a decrease of around 20 percent in tourists over the past year, said WRSA's Kitshoff-Botha.

WRSA的Kitshoff-Botha说，过去一年，旅游业的游客减少了约20％。

The drought has also hit other parts of Southern Africa. In Botswana, more than 100 elephants died in two months in 2019. Botswana is home to almost one-third of Africa's elephants.

干旱也袭击了南部非洲的其他地区。在博茨瓦纳，2019年的两个月内有100多头大象死亡。博茨瓦纳是非洲近三分之一大象的家园。

重点词汇：

Words in This Story：

ranch – n. a large farm where animals are raised

province – n. any of the large parts that some countries are divided into

game – n. animals that are hunted

tourism – n. the activity of traveling to a place for pleasure

breeding – n. the process by which young animals are produced by their parents

species – n. a group of animals or plants that are similar and can produce young animals or plants

ranger – n. a person in charge of managing and protecting part of a national park or wildlife lodge