VOA慢速英语2010年-Agriculture Report - Got Baboons in Yo

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

When farmers and wild animals share land, conflicts can be hard to prevent. But the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization is trying to help.

The FAO and other groups are developing what they call the Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation Toolkit. This toolkit is a collection of advice and information that farmers in southern Africa have been testing.

Wild animals are considered a top problem for the physical and economic security of rural populations in Africa.

FAO official Rene Czudek says the main aim is to provide low-cost methods to deal with wild animals without harming them.

For example, some farmers in Kenya use donkeys to guard against lions and cheetahs¹.

In Zambia and Mozambique, crocodiles are blamed for more deaths than any other animal. Nile crocodiles kill an estimated three hundred people each year in Mozambique alone.

Strong fencing at watering points can offer protection. And people should always enter the water several at a time, in groups armed with weapons like sticks and stones, axes and spears.

A field destroyed by wild elephants in Rangapara, in India

But the FAO also points out that crocodile attacks are less likely in places that have not been overfished.

The toolkit also has ideas to control baboons³. These large monkeys raid crops and they can kill sheep and other livestock⁴.

One suggestion is to remove the center from a loaf of bread and hide a snake inside -- a live one if possible. Baboons have a fear of snakes. They also have good memories. Rene Czudek at the FAO says a baboon² frightened by a snake sandwich will probably not come back.

Another animal with a good memory -- the elephant -- often raids field crops, especially maize⁵ and cassava. Mr. Czudek says the loss of a maize crop can mean the loss of a family's food supply for a year.

Did you know elephants hate chili⁶ pepper?

Farmers can grind pepper, mix it with elephant waste and form bricks. The idea is to burn these bricks around the edges of fields to keep elephants away. Farmers can also grow fields of chili peppers -- and sell the surplus.

Another way to control elephants is with a plastic gun called the Mhiripiri Bomber⁷. It fires balls that burst and release a chili solution when they hit the elephant's skin.

You might also be able to stop an elephant or a hippopotamus⁸ by shining lights in their eyes.

The FAO toolkit is supposed to be available online soon. People will be able to comment on the suggestions and offer their own.

And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I’m Bob Doughty
 

1 cheetahs   

n.（奔跑极快的）非洲猎豹( cheetah的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Unlike lions or cheetahs, leopards are secretive, solitary cats. 花豹不像狮子或印度豹，是属于较神秘而隐居的大猫。 来自互联网
• Among this lot are cheetahs, lions, leopards, rhinoceroses, spotted hyenas and elephants. 印度豹、狮子、花豹、犀牛、斑点土狼、大象等，都是此地的居民。 来自互联网

2 baboon   

n.狒狒

参考例句：

• A baboon is a large monkey that lives in Africa.狒狒是一种生活在非洲的大猴子。
• As long as the baboon holds on to what it wants,it's trapped.只要狒狒紧抓住想要的东西不放手，它就会被牢牢困住。

3 baboons   

n.狒狒( baboon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Baboons could break branches and leaders. 狒狒会折断侧枝和顶梢。 来自辞典例句
• And as nonprimates, they provoke fewer ethical and safety-related concerns than chimps or baboons. 而且作为非灵长类，就不会产生像用黑猩猩或狒狒那样的伦理和安全方面的顾虑。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 医学的第四次革命

4 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

5 maize   

n.玉米

参考例句：

• There's a field planted with maize behind the house.房子后面有一块玉米地。
• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。

6 chili   

n.辣椒

参考例句：

• He helped himself to another two small spoonfuls of chili oil.他自己下手又加了两小勺辣椒油。
• It has chocolate,chili,and other spices.有巧克力粉，辣椒，和其他的调味品。

7 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

8 hippopotamus   

n.河马

参考例句：

• The children enjoyed watching the hippopotamus wallowing in the mud.孩子们真喜观看河马在泥中打滚。
• A hippopotamus surfs the waves off the coast of Gabon.一头河马在加蓬的海岸附近冲浪。