VOA新闻杂志2024--Kenya Moving Rhinos to New Home

Kenya Moving Rhinos² to New Home

Kenya began its biggest rhino¹ relocation project earlier this month. Workers began the difficult work of moving 21 of the endangered animals to a new home. They each weigh around one metric ton.

A previous attempt at moving rhinos in the East African nation was a disaster in 2018. All 11 of the animals died.

The latest project experienced early troubles. A rhino targeted for moving was successfully hit with a tranquilizer shot from a helicopter but ended up in a creek³. Veterinarians and park rangers⁴ held the rhino's head above water with a rope to save it while a tranquilizer reversal drug took effect. It was then released.

Wildlife officials have said that the difficult project will take time, likely weeks.

The black rhinos are a mix of males and females. They are being moved from three conservation parks to the private Loisaba Conservancy in central Kenya, the Kenya Wildlife Service said. They are being moved because there are too many in the three parks. They need more space to roam⁵ and, hopefully, to breed.

Rhinos generally spend time alone and are at their happiest in large territories.

Kenya has had some success in saving its black rhino population. In the mid-1980s the rhino population fell below 300 because of poaching, raising fears that the animals might go extinct⁶ in a country famous for its wildlife.

Kenya now has nearly 1,000 black rhinos, says the wildlife service. That is the third biggest black rhino population in the world behind South Africa and Namibia.

There are just 6,487 wild rhinos left in the world, says rhino conservation group Save The Rhino. All live in Africa.

Kenyan officials say they have relocated more than 150 rhinos in the last 10 years or so.

Six years ago, Kenya moved 11 rhinos from the capital, Nairobi, to another sanctuary⁷ in the south of the country. All died soon after arriving at the sanctuary. Ten of them died from stress, lack of water and starvation, which was worsened by salt poisoning as they struggled with saltier water in their new home, investigations⁸ found. The other rhino was attacked by a lion.

Some of the 21 rhinos in the latest relocation are from Nairobi National Park. They will make a 300-kilometer trip in the back of a truck to Loisaba. Others will come from parks closer to Loisaba.

Loisaba was once home to a healthy black rhino population before they were wiped out in that area 50 years ago, said Loisaba Conservancy CEO Tom Silvester.

Kenyan wildlife officials say the country is aiming to grow its black rhino population to about 2,000. They believe 2,000 would be the best number considering the space available for them in national and private parks.

Words in This Story

relocation — v. to move to a new place

endanger — v. to cause to be in a dangerous place or situation

tranquilizer — n. a drug that causes a person or animal to become very relaxed and calm

reverse⁹ — v. to change to an opposite state or condition

roam — v. to go to different places without having a particular purpose or plan

poach — v. to catch or kill an animal illegally

extinct — adj. no longer existing

sanctuary — n. a place where someone or something is protected or given shelter

stress — n. something that causes strong feelings of worry or anxiety

1 rhino   

n.犀牛，钱, 现金

参考例句：

• The rhino charged headlong towards us.犀牛急速地向我们冲来。
• They have driven the rhino to the edge of extinction.他们已经令犀牛濒临灭绝。

2 rhinos   

n.犀牛（rhino的复数形式）

参考例句：

• There are many reports of people taming and even training Indian rhinos. 有许多关于人们驯养甚至训练印度犀牛的记载。 来自辞典例句
• The rhinos had fed during the night in the rice fields of these villagers. 犀牛夜里在这些村民的庄稼地里也已吃饱了。 来自辞典例句

3 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

4 rangers   

护林者( ranger的名词复数 )； 突击队员

参考例句：

• Do you know where the Rangers Stadium is? 你知道Rangers体育场在哪吗？ 来自超越目标英语 第3册
• Now I'm a Rangers' fan, so I like to be near the stadium. 现在我是Rangers的爱好者，所以我想离体育场近一点。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

5 roam   

vi.漫游，闲逛，徜徉

参考例句：

• He used to roam the streets for hours on end.他过去常逛大街，一逛就是几个小时。
• I like to roam about over the countryside.我喜欢在乡间走一走。

6 extinct   

adj.灭绝的，不再活跃的，熄灭了的，已废弃的

参考例句：

• All hopes were extinct.所有希望都破灭了。
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years.恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。

7 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

8 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

9 reverse   

v.推翻，颠倒，反向；n.反面，逆境；adj.反向的

参考例句：

• His answer was just the reverse of what I expected.他的回答正好与我期望的相反。
• Please reverse the positions of two pictures.请把两张图片的位置倒转过来。