VOA慢速英语2015 印度争论缩减老虎栖息地

 

AS IT IS 2015-01-18 India Battles Shrinking Tiger Habitat 印度争论缩减老虎栖息地

A shrinking habitat for tigers is one of the biggest problems facing conservationists in India. India has one of the world’s largest programs to protect the tiger. However, there is a growing problem of balancing the interests of wildlife with those of villages in or near tiger reserves.

More than a year ago, wildlife officials climbed to a village in the center of Sariska Tiger Reserve. A female tiger, or tigress, was prowling near the village.

The officials were worried that frightened villagers would target the animal. So, the animal experts spent many hours persuading the villagers not to disturb the tigress. She apparently² was on a search for a mate. 

Manoj Parashar is the Deputy Field Director of Sariska Reserve. He says forest guards and villagers formed teams to keep continuous watch over the tigress.

He says the officials said they would immediately intervene if she tried to attack someone. They urged the villagers to leave her alone. Mr. Parashar says they agreed.

The tigress spent a week near the village before returning to the deep jungle. Four of those days she spent with a male tiger who answered her mating call.

Months later, the tigress gave birth to two cubs³. This made the officials very happy. They are the newest additions to the 13 tigers in Sariska.

Conservationists say neither the villagers nor wildlife gain from being close together. They say wild animals including deer, boar or elephants, can damage crops or attack farm animals.

For tigers and other animals, the presence of these villages means noise and movement in the middle of the forest.

Belinda Wright heads the Wildlife Protection Society of India. She says times have changed, even for life in the forest.

“It is no longer a quiet little village that has a sort of very simple existence and simple life. Nowadays it is quite intrusive⁴. People have aspirations⁵ which they did not have in the past. It is now very complex and same villagers want motorbikes and so on and it is a huge disturbance⁶ for wildlife.”

India is home to half the world’s tigers. The population fell to just 1,400 at one point. The last count was in 2011. There were 1,706 tigers.

Five years ago officials launched a program to protect the tigers' habitat. They moved the villages in the 886 square kilometer reserve. Similar programs are taking place in several other tiger reserves across the country.

Under the program, villagers in Sariska are given about $16,000 to leave their homes and re-settle elsewhere.

But the program has made little progress in persuading villagers to leave their traditional home.

Haripura village is inside the gate of the reserve. It is also one of the villages identified for a move. For generations, Haripura villagers have raised cows and farmed the land.

One of them, Lalu Ram¹ Gujjar, says villagers are resistant⁷ to moving out because the resettlement offer is too small.

He says it will cost a lot to buy even a small piece of land. He questions how he will be able to build a house or live during the one or two years of resettlement.

So far, three villages in Sariska have been moved. Six others are in the process of relocation.

R.S. Shekawat, the director of Sariska Tiger Reserve, says moving villages out from the reserve is very difficult. Villagers cannot be forced to leave. They have to agree to move voluntarily.

“It is quite difficult, because land prices have gone very high all around, and the package is not that great and not many people are not coming forward for relocation. So this is one of biggest challenge. Tiger for breeding need inviolate⁸ space. If they (villagers) move out, we would have a lot of area, 500 square kilometers, which would be inviolate.”

But villagers like Lalu Ram Gujjar are in no hurry to move out. He says they get used to living along with the wildlife. He says that the tiger often passes close to their homes, but never threatens them. 

However, conservationists like Belinda Wright feel there is little time to be lost.

“This is a very, very difficult thing for people, probably more difficult than even the people think it is, to move them from their traditional homes that they have lived in for generations, and for them to start a new life and a new way of life. But if it does not happen now, in five years, ten years times it will be a 100 times more difficult to find land to accommodate people and in the meantime a lot of damage will be done.”

The struggle to balance the interest of wildlife and villagers is not likely to end anytime soon.  India needs to conserve⁹ the tiger. But the government also wants to guarantee a fair deal to people and tribes for whom the forest has always been home. 

Words in this Story

habitat - n. the place of type of place where an animal naturally lives

conservationist – n. someone who works to protect animals, plants, and natural resources or to prevent the loss of waste or natural resources

reserve – n. an area of land where animals and plants are given special protection

prowling – v. to move through a place or area while searching for something often in a quiet or secret way

mate – v. to bring animals together so that they will breed and produce young

1 ram   

(random access memory)随机存取存储器

参考例句：

• 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存，640K内存则更佳。

2 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

3 cubs   

n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lioness guarding her cubs 守护幼崽的母狮
• Lion cubs depend on their mother to feed them. 狮子的幼仔依靠母狮喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 intrusive   

adj.打搅的；侵扰的

参考例句：

• The cameras were not an intrusive presence.那些摄像机的存在并不令人反感。
• Staffs are courteous but never intrusive.员工谦恭有礼却从不让人感到唐突。

5 aspirations   

强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音

参考例句：

• I didn't realize you had political aspirations. 我没有意识到你有政治上的抱负。
• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。

6 disturbance   

n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调

参考例句：

• He is suffering an emotional disturbance.他的情绪受到了困扰。
• You can work in here without any disturbance.在这儿你可不受任何干扰地工作。

7 resistant   

adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的

参考例句：

• Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。
• They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。

8 inviolate   

adj.未亵渎的，未受侵犯的

参考例句：

• The constitution proclaims that public property shall be inviolate.宪法宣告公共财产不可侵犯。
• They considered themselves inviolate from attack.他们认为自己是不可侵犯的。

9 conserve   

vt.保存，保护，节约，节省，守恒，不灭

参考例句：

• He writes on both sides of the sheet to conserve paper.他在纸张的两面都写字以节省用纸。
• Conserve your energy,you'll need it!保存你的精力，你会用得着的！