VOA慢速英语2019 加拉帕戈斯群岛发现一种超过110年未见的陆龟

Tortoise Not Seen for Over 110 Years Found on Galapagos Island

A kind of tortoise not seen in more than 110 years has been found in the Galapagos Islands.

加拉帕戈斯群岛发现了一种110多年未见的乌龟。

A female from a species known as the Fernandina giant tortoise was discovered last weekend on the island of Fernandina.

这只归属于费尔南迪纳巨型陆龟物种的雌性乌龟于上周在费尔南迪纳岛被发现。

The Galapagos is a group of 20 islands in the eastern Pacific Ocean, about 1,000 kilometers off the coast of Ecuador.

加拉帕戈斯群岛由东太平洋上的20个岛屿组成，距离厄瓜多尔海岸约1000公里。

The islands belong to Ecuador and the tortoise discovery was announced by the country’s ministry¹ of environment. It said that the creature was identified by researchers from the Galapagos National Park and the Galapagos Conservancy, a group based in the United States.

这些岛屿属于厄瓜多尔，这种乌龟的发现也是该国环境部宣布的。该部门表示，这种生物是由加拉帕戈斯国家公园以及总部位于美国的加拉帕戈斯保护协会的研究人员所发现的。

Wildlife experts had thought the Fernandina giant tortoise no longer existed.

野生动物专家曾经认为费尔南迪纳巨型陆龟已经灭绝。

The researchers said they believe the adult female tortoise is more than 100 years old. The animal was taken to a breeding center for giant tortoises on the Galapagos island of Santa Cruz.

研究人员表示，他们认为这只成年雌龟年龄超过100岁。该动物被带到了加拉帕戈斯群岛圣克鲁斯的巨型龟类繁殖中心。

The International Union for Conservation of Nature says the only other living member of the species was found in 1906. Since then, researchers have found some evidence of Fernandina giant tortoise activity. There was an unconfirmed sighting in 2009. But the latest find was the first new confirmed sighting of the species.

国际自然保护联盟表示，该物种唯一的另一个存活成员是在1906年被发现的。自那时起，研究人员看到过一些费尔南迪纳巨型陆龟的活动迹象，2009年有一次未经证实的目击事件，但是最近这次发现是首次新确认看到该物种。

Investigators² believe there may be more members of the species on Fernandina Island because of animal droppings and tracks they found.

调查人员认为，由于他们发现的动物粪便和足迹，在费尔南迪纳岛上可能有更多该物种成员。

Danny Rueda is the director of Galapagos National Park. He says the discovery provides new hope for possible successful breeding. "This encourages us to strengthen our search plans to find other turtles, which will allow us to start a breeding program in captivity³ to recover this species," he said in a statement.

丹尼·卢埃达（Danny Rueda）是加拉帕戈斯国家公园的负责人。他说，这一发现为可能的成功育种提供了新的希望。他在一份声明中表示：“这鼓励我们加大寻找其它龟类的搜寻计划，它让我们能够开启育种计划以恢复该物种。”

Fernandina is the third-largest island in the Galapagos. A volcano there is one of the most active in the world. The International Union for Conservation of Nature said it feared the species was likely lost to repeated volcanic⁴ lava⁵ flows “that nearly cover the island.”

费尔南迪纳岛是加拉帕戈斯群岛的第三大岛。这里的一座火山是全球最活跃的火山之一。国际自然保护联盟曾表示，他们担心该物种可能因为反复发生的火山熔岩而消失，这些火山熔岩几乎流经了整个岛屿。

Ecuador’s Environment Minister, Marcelo Mata Guerrero, said the government fully⁶ supports additional research and development efforts aimed at saving the species.

厄瓜多尔环境部长Marcelo Mata Guerrero表示，政府全力支持旨在拯救该物种的其它研究和开发工作。

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

species – n. a group of plants or animals that share similar qualities

breed – v. to reproduce

tracks – n. markings left on the ground by a person, animal or vehicle

encourage – v. tell or advise to do something

lava – n. melted or liquid rock from a volcano

1 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

2 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 captivity   

n.囚禁；被俘；束缚

参考例句：

• A zoo is a place where live animals are kept in captivity for the public to see.动物园是圈养动物以供公众观看的场所。
• He was held in captivity for three years.他被囚禁叁年。

4 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

5 lava   

n.熔岩，火山岩

参考例句：

• The lava flowed down the sides of the volcano.熔岩沿火山坡面涌流而下。
• His anger spilled out like lava.他的愤怒像火山爆发似的迸发出来。

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。