Pygmy Elephants of Borneo

By Caty Weaver¹

Broadcast: September 19, 2003

This is Bob Doughty² with the VOA Special English Environment Report.
Scientists have identified the elephants that live on the island of Borneo in Malaysia as separate from other Asian elephants. The group Worldwide Fund for Nature, or W-W-F, announced the finding. This follows 1)genetic³ tests on waste from Borneo's Pygmy Elephants, as they are called.
The Sabah Wildlife Department in Malaysia permitted researchers to collect droppings from forests on Borneo. They sent the material to Columbia University in New York City. There, the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology carried out the tests.
Scientists compared the D-N-A to the genes⁴ of elephants that live in mainland Malaysia and in Sri Lanka, India and other Asian countries.
The research shows that Borneo elephants were separated from other Asian elephants about three-hundred-thousand years ago. Some differences are easy to see. The Borneo elephants are smaller than other elephants. Their ears and tails make up a larger part of their bodies. And their 2)tusks are straighter.
Also, the chairman of the W-W-F program in Malaysia says the Borneo elephants are gentler compared to other Asian elephants.
The group says the test results mean that the 3)pygmy elephants of Borneo should be treated as their own kind. It says the elephants should not be permitted to reproduce with other Asian elephants. It says there should also be research into the reproductive rates of the Borneo elephants and survival of their young.
The nature group notes a long-standing dispute about where the Borneo elephants came from. One theory is that their ancestors were gifts from the British East India Company to the Sultan of Sulu in the seventeenth century. The scientists, however, say the new findings reject the argument that humans brought the elephants to the island.
The other theory is that the elephants could remain from a native population that traveled between Borneo and Sumatra. During the ice ages, more than ten-thousand years ago, sea levels were much lower. Land sometimes linked the two islands. The elephants could have been trapped on Borneo after the water rose again.
This VOA Special English Environment Report was written by Caty Weaver. This is Bob Doughty.

注释：
1) genetic [dVi5netik] adj.遗传的，起源的
2) tusk⁵ [tQsk] n.长牙，獠牙
3) pygmy [5pi^mi] adj.矮小的

1 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

2 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

3 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

4 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

5 tusk   

n.獠牙，长牙，象牙

参考例句：

• The wild boar had its tusk sunk deeply into a tree and howled desperately.野猪的獠牙陷在了树里，绝望地嗥叫着。
• A huge tusk decorated the wall of his study.他书房的墙上装饰着一支巨大的象牙。