VOA标准英语2012--Conservation Project at Risk from Mai Mai Attack

 

Conservation Project at Risk from Mai Mai Attack

The hunt continues for the Mai Mai militia¹ that attacked a DRC conservation project in June. Six people were killed, as well as 14 endangered animals called Okapi, or forest giraffe.

The attack occurred around 5 am on June 24th at the Okapi Conservation Project in Epulu. It is believed to have been retaliation² by poachers for efforts to stop their activities inside the Okapi Wildlife Reserve.

Project founder³ and director John Lucas said the Mai Mai Simba rebels are led by Morgan Sadala.

“He’s a resident of the reserve. He’s been a poacher for a long time. The reserve was only created in 1992. This gentleman just wants to kill elephants and mine gold. The satori area has large deposits of alluvial⁴ gold, which is in the rivers, and it’s a very destructive process to get it out. It’s mined outside of the reserve legally, but inside the reserve it’s illegal to do and that’s what we’re trying to stop,” he said.

Rangers⁵ from the Institute in the Congo for the Conservation of Nature have been closing Sadala’s mines and confiscating⁶ poached ivory. Lucas said that’s why the project was attacked.

It’s estimated there are 10,000 to 20,000 Okapi in the wild. The exact number is unclear because the animals, who live only in the DRC’s rainforest, are so elusive⁷. About 4,000 are in the wildlife reserve. They look like a cross between a zebra and a giraffe, and weigh between 600 and 800 pounds.

Lucas said it took 48 hours following the attack for Congolese and U.N. soldiers to arrive on the scene. While the militia is blamed for the killings⁸, slaughtering⁹ the Okapi and burning buildings, he blames Congolese troops for looting the buildings.

He now hopes they’ll try to track down Sadala and his rebels, but he said they may not have an incentive¹⁰ to do so.

“Right now,” he said, “it’s really touch and go. The soldiers are ready to be deployed¹¹, hopefully towards the area where the rebels flee. We really have a high concern of military involvement with the rebels and that’s a major concern. We’re addressing that in Kinshasa and other places. We feel there is a complicit relationship between some of the military and the poachers, and so that’s something we have to work out. And we have to mount a major campaign to find this group.”

He described U.N. troops who came to the area as “totally infective.” Lucas says they just go to the river, “take a bath and leave.”

The U.N. stabilization¹² mission in the DRC, with its 20,000 troops and more than 700 military observers, is known as MONUSCO. It’s authorized¹³ “to use all necessary means to carry out its mandate¹⁴ relating, among other things, to the protection of civilians¹⁵, humanitarian¹⁶ personnel and human rights defenders¹⁷ under imminent¹⁸ threat of physical violence.”

A number of Epulu townspeople, who were taken hostage by the Mai Mai to carry stolen goods, have been released and have returned home.

1 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

2 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

4 alluvial   

adj.冲积的；淤积的

参考例句：

• Alluvial soils usually grow the best crops.淤积土壤通常能长出最好的庄稼。
• A usually triangular alluvial deposit at the mouth of a river.三角洲河口常见的三角形沉淀淤积地带。

5 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

6 confiscating   

没收（confiscate的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• There was Mame by my side confiscating my intellects and attention. 有玛米坐在我身边，害得我心不在焉。
• Intimidate book sellers by confiscating books deemed unfavourable to the Barisan government. 充公被视为对国阵不利的书籍，威胁书商。

7 elusive   

adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的

参考例句：

• Try to catch the elusive charm of the original in translation.翻译时设法把握住原文中难以捉摸的风韵。
• Interpol have searched all the corners of the earth for the elusive hijackers.国际刑警组织已在世界各地搜查在逃的飞机劫持者。

8 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

9 slaughtering   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The Revolutionary Tribunal went to work, and a steady slaughtering began. 革命法庭投入工作，持续不断的大屠杀开始了。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
• \"Isn't it terrific slaughtering pigs? “宰猪的！ 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

10 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

11 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

12 Stabilization   

稳定化

参考例句：

• The position of barycentre on plane directly impacts the stabilization and manipulation of plane. 飞机重心位置直接影响飞机的稳定和操纵特性。
• With the higher olefins, stabilization of the energetic intermediates occurs more easily. 在较高的烯烃情况下，高能的中间物稳定作用更易出现。

13 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

14 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

15 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

16 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

17 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。