VOA标准英语2014--Kenya Counts Elephants From the Air 肯尼亚从空中清点大象数量

 

Kenya Counts Elephants From the Air 肯尼亚从空中清点大象数量

TSAVO, KENYA — Kenya is conducting an aerial census¹ of the elephant population in a national park that has been the scene of gruesome poaching incidents in the last year. An intensive effort is underway to count and protect the threatened elephant population.

Pilots are taking to the skies above Tsavo National Park in eastern Kenya on a singular mission -- to find elephants.

The census, which takes place every three years, is organized by the Kenya Wildlife Service to map out the elephant population in the area.

Volunteers from organizations across the country have contributed their planes, including Save the Elephants and the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, which also donated all the fuel. The total cost of the exercise is about $200,000.

Scouring² the park

Over the course of the week, pilots will cover nearly 50,000 square kilometers of land from the park here in Kenya to across the border in Tanzania in order to get a comprehensive count of the elephant population. Scientists hope they can use that data to better protect the species in the future."

The census is not just about population. Observers will also be looking for potential threats in the environment such as evidence of poaching.

Senior Scientist with the Kenya Wildlife Service, Fredrick Lala, said, "This particular census is very important to us because apart from knowing the numbers, we will be able to know the areas where poaching has been able to occur, in terms of if we are able to identify the poaching areas.  We'll also be able to know how the habitat is."

The good news is the elephant population appears to be increasing in Tsavo. It rose to 12,000 at the time of the last census, taken in 2011.

Unfortunately, the area suffered a spate³ of poaching incidents last year in which whole families of elephants were slaughtered⁵ for their ivory.

Engaging the locals

Other conflicts have arisen when the animals destroy farmland and other property.

Dickson Too, the senior warden⁶ for the Kenya Wildlife Service in Tsavo East, said engaging local population is key to protecting wildlife in the park.

"Of course, what we are doing, is we have a whole unit involved dealing⁷ with community issues that go out to the communities trying to create awareness⁸ -- because the most common thing is the human-wildlife conflict, and trying to teach them how to avoid such things happening," said Too.

Elephant monitoring groups estimate more than 25,000 elephants are killed across Africa each year, though the number could be higher.

Kenya recently enacted⁹ tough new laws raising the penalty for poaching and trading ivory.

 

But conservationists say until the demand for ivory -- coming mostly from China -- is stopped, there will be no end to the slaughter⁴.

1 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

2 scouring   

擦[洗]净，冲刷，洗涤

参考例句：

• The police are scouring the countryside for the escaped prisoners. 警察正在搜索整个乡村以捉拿逃犯。
• This is called the scouring train in wool processing. 这被称为羊毛加工中的洗涤系列。

3 spate   

n.泛滥，洪水，突然的一阵

参考例句：

• Police are investigating a spate of burglaries in the area.警察正在调查这一地区发生的大量盗窃案。
• Refugees crossed the border in full spate.难民大量地越过了边境。

4 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

5 slaughtered   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The invading army slaughtered a lot of people. 侵略军杀了许多人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Hundreds of innocent civilians were cruelly slaughtered. 数百名无辜平民遭残杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 warden   

n.监察员，监狱长，看守人，监护人

参考例句：

• He is the warden of an old people's home.他是一家养老院的管理员。
• The warden of the prison signed the release.监狱长签发释放令。

7 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

8 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

9 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹