VOA慢速英语2015 在津巴布韦为更好的保护狮子而努力

AS IT IS 2015-03-16 Fighting for Lions in Zimbabwe 在津巴布韦为更好的保护狮子而努力

Conservationists are breeding lions in the Southern African nation of Zimbabwe. The wildlife experts hope to increase the lion population to keep the great cats from disappearing.

In some areas, lions and human beings are competing for control of land. Researchers believe something must be done quickly to save the animals.

Today we take you to the Antelope¹ Park Farm in Gweru, Zimbabwe. The main business here is lion breeding.

The African Lion and Environmental Research Trust has more than 100 lions in its breeding program. The trust is known by the name ALERT.

Gary Jones heads the Antelope Park Farm. He says ALERT has become involved because of a sharp drop in the number of lions.  His group believes this has been caused mostly by humans.  There are more people moving to this area every year. The lions have less land on which to live.

“The wild population of lion has plummeted² from about 250 to 260,000, 30 to 35 years ago to a current estimate ranging between 18 and 30 or 32,000. So you can see the numbers have declined horribly. It comes through human population growth. So the future for the lion is looking very bleak³ at the moment as humans encroach into their natural environment as our population expands.”

Antelope Park Farm is one of two sites ALERT operates in Zimbabwe. Another area is in Zambia. Gary Jones says the decrease in the lion population affects the whole environment. He adds that other African nations are also seeing the disastrous⁴ effects of this.

“There are countries, particularly in central and North Africa, where the lion population has reached a critical level. Burundi, for instance, do not have lions whatsoever⁵ in their national parks. They are very, very desperate to have lions reintroduced back into their national parks because (when) you take the apex⁶ predator⁷ (lion) out of the equation, and suddenly you get all funny things happening with the balance of nature. You get overstocking of these prey⁸ species. You get disease coming through into these populations of prey species. That is exactly what is happening in Burundi.”

The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization says wild animals are threatened when farmers try to protect their plants or animals.

Rene Czudek works for the UN agency. Mr. Czudek is the FAO official responsible for wildlife and forestry⁹ in southern Africa. He says his organization has come up with a human-wildlife tool kit¹⁰ that some countries are using to reduce conflict between humans and wildlife.

“So then we are trying to explain to the people what is the behavior of lions, how do they act. So it is a kind of, you know, building capacity of people to assess the situation, land use planning, not to put their fields just on pathway of elephants or a corridor. In fact, the human-wildlife tool kit is a kind of instrument that extension workers can use with the communities -- explain to them the behavior of wildlife, … then show them what are the risky¹¹ behaviors, how they should, you know, plan for their fields.”

By providing information, the FAO hopes the conflict between humans and wildlife can be reduced, and that the threatened species can grow again.

Words in This Story

breeding - v. sexually reproducing animals or plants

population - n. all the people, animals or things in a place, city or country

drop - n. the process of decreasing; reduction

1 antelope   

n.羚羊；羚羊皮

参考例句：

• Choosing the antelope shows that China wants a Green Olympics.选择藏羚羊表示中国需要绿色奥运。
• The tiger was dragging the antelope across the field.老虎拖着羚羊穿过原野。

2 plummeted   

v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Share prices plummeted to an all-time low. 股票价格暴跌到历史最低点。
• A plane plummeted to earth. 一架飞机一头栽向地面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 bleak   

adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的

参考例句：

• They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
• The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。

4 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

5 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

6 apex   

n.顶点，最高点

参考例句：

• He reached the apex of power in the early 1930s.他在三十年代初达到了权力的顶峰。
• His election to the presidency was the apex of his career.当选总统是他一生事业的顶峰。

7 predator   

n.捕食其它动物的动物；捕食者

参考例句：

• The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。
• Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴，它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。

8 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

9 forestry   

n.森林学；林业

参考例句：

• At present, the Chinese forestry is being at a significant transforming period. 当前, 我国的林业正处于一个重大的转折时期。
• Anhua is one of the key forestry counties in Hunan province. 安化县是湖南省重点林区县之一。

10 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。

11 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。