VOA新闻杂志2022--70年后猎豹又回到了印度

Cheetahs² Once Again Live in India After 70 Years

For the first time since 1952, wild cheetahs are living in India.

Eight of the big cats arrived Saturday from the southern African nation of Namibia.

They are part of a reintroduction program and will live in a large open space. Cheetahs once lived in India, but died out about 70 years ago. Scientists hope the cats will learn to hunt deer and other wild animals in the area. And they hope the cheetahs will reproduce.

The cheetahs coming to Africa are slightly different from the Asian ones which were widespread in India. Those died out due to hunting and human population growth. There are very few Asian cheetahs remaining, mostly in Iran.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the cats into the wild on Saturday.

"When the cheetah¹ will run again ... grasslands³ will be restored, biodiversity will increase and eco-tourism will get a boost," Modi said.

Nature experts hope that as more people learn about the cheetahs in India, they will be interested in working to save the grasslands on which they live.

In many countries, the places where cheetahs live are getting smaller and smaller due to human population growth and climate change. Cheetahs once lived throughout Africa, Asia and the Middle East, but now, however, they live on just 9 percent of that original land.

There are about 7,000 adult cheetahs in the world.

Laurie Marker is a researcher with the Cheetah Conservation Fund. She said she hopes the cheetahs can find an "appropriate" home in India. If they survive, spread out and have babies, the area where they live could support 21 cheetahs.

"To save cheetahs from extinction⁴, we need to create permanent places for them on earth," Marker said.

In South Africa, however, cheetahs are running out of space. So groups such as Marker's are looking for new cheetah homes.

Four cheetahs recently captured in South Africa were sent to the East African country of Mozambique. Twelve cheetahs from South Africa are currently waiting to be sent to India's Kuno National Park.

While many are celebrating the cheetah relocation project, others think it is too early in the project to form an opinion.

Mayuk Chatterjee is with the International Union for Conservation of Nature. He said there could be "unintended" effects of the move. "The question remains⁵: How well it's done."

One concern is how the cheetahs will affect other animals such as hyenas⁶, a kind of wild dog, or birds. Another is what will happen if the cheetahs do too well. People in India are currently worried about tigers. A fast rise in the population of the large cats has led to more tiger-human interactions.

The cheetahs from Namibia will wear tracking devices around their necks. They will start off in a smaller safe area for one month before they are released to a larger area. They will be living in the same area as deer and antelope⁷. Scientists hope the cheetahs will learn how to hunt them. Other predators⁹, such as bears and leopards¹⁰, will not be able to get into the area.

The project is expected to cost more than $11 million. It includes relocating a small village on the edge of the cheetah area. About $6 million of the cost will be paid by state-run Indian Oil.

The African cheetahs are distant family members of the cheetahs that once lived in Asia. Early on, the hope was to bring in Asiatic cheetahs, but there are too few.

There are still concerns about whether the project will work. One expert thinks it would be better to work on saving the cheetahs where they live.

Pamela Burger studies conservation genetics at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Austria. She calls the future of the cheetahs in India "questionable¹¹" and says, "it would be better to conserve¹² them now where they are..."

But another researcher, Adrian Tordiffe, said it has not been easy to keep the African cheetahs safe, and sometimes they need help to get to places where they can live more easily.

Tordiffe is an animal doctor and wildlife specialist who worked on the cheetah relocation project. He said India has shown an ability to keep large cats safe because of strong conservation laws. For example, the population of tigers has increased by almost 100 percent in the last 15 years.

"We cannot sit back and hope that species like the cheetah will survive on their own without our help," he said.

Words in This Story

reintroduction –adj. the act of returning something to where it once was

biodiversity –n. the existence of many different types of plants or animals in an area

ecotourism –n. the practice of traveling to beautiful or natural places for pleasure, in a way that does not hurt the environment there

boost –v. to increase the power or force of something

appropriate –adj. right or suited for a purpose or situation

extinction –n. the result when something has died out completely

relocation –n. to move something to a new place

unintended –adj. not expected or not done on purpose

track –v. to follow something

predator⁸ –n. an animal that hunts and eats other animals

conservation –n. the act of taking care of plants and animals or the environment

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

1 cheetah   

n.(动物)猎豹

参考例句：

• The cheetah is generally credited as the world's fastest animal.猎豹被公认是世界上跑得最快的动物。
• The distribution of the cheetah ranges from Africa to Central Asia.印度豹的足迹遍及从非洲到中亚的广大地区。

2 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

3 grasslands   

n.草原，牧场( grassland的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Songs were heard ringing loud and clear over the grasslands. 草原上扬起清亮激越的歌声。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Grasslands have been broken and planted to wheat. 草原已经开垦出来，种上了小麦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 extinction   

n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种

参考例句：

• The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
• The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 hyenas   

n.鬣狗( hyena的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These animals were the prey of hyenas. 这些动物是鬣狗的猎物。 来自辞典例句
• We detest with horror the duplicity and villainy of the murderous hyenas of Bukharinite wreckers. 我们非常憎恨布哈林那帮两面三刀、杀人破坏，干尽坏事的豺狼。 来自辞典例句

7 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。

8 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。

9 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 leopards   

n.豹( leopard的名词复数 )；本性难移

参考例句：

• Lions, tigers and leopards are all cats. 狮、虎和豹都是猫科动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• For example, airlines never ship leopards and canaries on the same flight. 例如，飞机上从来不会同时运送豹和金丝雀。 来自英语晨读30分（初三）

11 questionable   

adj.可疑的，有问题的

参考例句：

• There are still a few questionable points in the case.这个案件还有几个疑点。
• Your argument is based on a set of questionable assumptions.你的论证建立在一套有问题的假设上。

12 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！