VOA新闻杂志2024--Mysterious Creature from Argentina Has Made Its Home in Dubai

Mysterious Creature from Argentina Has Made Its Home in Dubai

Dubai in the United Arab Emirates is known for its tall, modern buildings rising high above the desert. But an unusual animal from Argentina, the Patagonian mara, can be found there, too.

The animal, like a rabbit, has long legs and ears and a body larger than most other rodents². They have been found near the Al Qudra Lakes, which are usually home to gazelle and other desert creatures found in the Emirates, or UAE.

How they got there remains³ a mystery. But in the UAE, exotic animals have ended up in the private homes and farms of the wealthy.

The UAE's Climate Change and Environment Ministry⁴ and officials in Dubai did not answer questions from the Associated Press (AP) about the Patagonian maras. But one estimate suggests that as many as 200 could be thriving in the area of the Al Marmoom Desert Conservation Reserve nearby. Few dead maras have been found.

An AP reporter found at least five maras on a recent visit to the Al Qudra Lakes, a wide desert area 40 kilometers south of Dubai. On another visit, the reporter saw several packs of the animals, including one mother still nursing a baby.

Al Qudra is at the end of a long bicycle path. It is popular in the winter months. Campers and others come to enjoy the outdoors in the cooler weather among the area's lakes. Some of the lakes have been engineered into shapes like a moon, two hearts or as an advertisement for Dubai's Expo 2020.

The Patagonian maras first appeared publicly in 2020 during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. A request for information on their sightings was first published in an issue of the Dubai Natural History Group's monthly newsletter. Volunteers described seeing them in Al Qudra and on Saadiyat Island near the UAE's capital of Abu Dhabi.

"This large rodent¹ is a common species in zoological collections and undoubtedly⁵ found its way out from captivity," wrote Jacky Judas, who has long studied mammals in the UAE.

"They can regularly be seen sleeping or eating grass in the middle of roundabouts at Al Qudra...it can possibly survive in highly modified habitats with tree plantations⁶, lawns and ponds," Judas wrote.

Those words describe the environment found at Al Qudra and are probably the reason for the maras' continued survival. But temperatures in the UAE regularly reach 45 degrees Celsius⁷ in the summer, making it a difficult environment.

The number of maras at Al Qudra suggests that they are breeding. Patagonian maras mate for life, and females can get pregnant only a few times a year. They can give birth to one to three babies at a time. In Argentina, the animals can be hunted and eaten, their fur used for rugs and blankets.

The Patagonian maras eat plants and are no threat to humans. There are few animals that might hunt them at Al Qudra. Arabian red fox do live and hunt in the area.

Patagonian maras normally live in central and southern Argentina. But they have been trafficked into areas as exotic pets in the past. In the United States, the appearance of one was covered by the local news in Denver, Colorado. In August, a Patagonian mara was found in a car about to enter Turkey from Greece. Officials discovered other animals in the suspected trafficking attempt.

It is illegal to keep endangered or threatened wildlife in the Emirates. But there have been many reports and social media videos of Emirati men in luxury cars with pet lions along for the ride.

Words in This Story

thrive -v. to not only survive but to live well and to reproduce

pack -n. a group of certain kinds of animals like dogs, hyenas⁸, and some rodents

nurse -v. when mother mammals provide milk to their young

species -n. a kind of animal or plant that is like others of its kind and can reproduce with them

roundabout -n. a circular roadway where two or more roads meet

habitat -n. an environment in which a plant or animal lives

luxury -adj. market by being very costly or excessive

1 rodent   

n.啮齿动物；adj.啮齿目的

参考例句：

• When there is a full moon,this nocturnal rodent is careful to stay in its burrow.月圆之夜，这种夜间活动的啮齿类动物会小心地呆在地洞里不出来。
• This small rodent can scoop out a long,narrow tunnel in a very short time.这种小啮齿动物能在很短的时间里挖出一条又长又窄的地道来。

2 rodents   

n.啮齿目动物( rodent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Rodents carry diseases and are generally regarded as pests. 啮齿目动物传播疾病，常被当作害虫对待。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some wild rodents in Africa also harbor the virus. 在非洲，有些野生啮齿动物也是储毒者。 来自辞典例句

3 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。

4 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。

5 undoubtedly   

adv.确实地，无疑地

参考例句：

• It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
• He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。

6 plantations   

n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Soon great plantations, supported by slave labor, made some families very wealthy. 不久之后出现了依靠奴隶劳动的大庄园，使一些家庭成了富豪。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• Winterborne's contract was completed, and the plantations were deserted. 维恩特波恩的合同完成后，那片林地变得荒废了。 来自辞典例句

7 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

8 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