VOA标准英语2014--野生动物基金会称每年成千上万的大象死亡

 

Wildlife Foundation: Tens of Thousands of Elephants Killed Every Year 野生动物基金会称每年成千上万的大象死亡

August 12 is World Elephant Day. It’s estimated there are 500,000 elephants remaining in Africa. That’s down from 1.2-million in the 1980s, as poaching continues to take its toll¹.

African Wildlife Foundation’s Beatrice Karanja says World Elephant Day is an attempt to save an iconic animal.

“What we hope to accomplish is to raise awareness² to the plight³ of the elephants in Africa and the rate at which we’re losing them, which is quite phenomenal. Africa lost 35,000 elephants last year. And it is predicted that if we continue on the trajectory⁴ that we are on now we will see no elephants in the wild by 2025.”

Speaking from Nairobi, Karanja said raising awareness about the plight of elephants begins at home.

“Even here in Kenya when you talk to [the] general public they are not aware of the rate at which we are losing them and the rate at which they could be extinct. So, we are appealing to Kenyan brothers and sisters and our African brothers and sisters to take more of a cognizant role in calling for drastic changes in policy and legislation that can assure that we don’t lose our iconic species,” she said.

Poaching is fueled by the demand for ivory, primarily in Asia. It’s used in traditional medicine and as a status symbol.

“Poaching has become almost militarized in that the poachers are using high caliber⁵ weapons, sophisticated tools for tracking, whether it’s GPS or night vision goggles⁶, etc. So it’s a challenge when you’ve got a ranger⁷ who doesn’t have that same equipment to fight against the poachers. We need more boots on the ground and we need stronger legislative⁸ policies and laws,” she said.

Karanja added that the elephant awareness campaign also needs the will and commitment of African governments.

Anti-poaching efforts do work. For example, foot and aerial patrols have reduced poaching by 50-percent in the Lower Zambezi National Park in Zambia. About 2,200 elephants live in the park. Also, thanks to anti-poaching efforts, the elephant population is reported on the rise in southern Kenya’s Amboseli ecosystem⁹.

President Obama recently issued an executive order to launch a $10-million anti-poaching initiative. A task force will allocate¹⁰ the money to African countries and help develop a U.S. strategy against wildlife trafficking.

Recently two U.S. states – New York and New Jersey¹¹ – passed laws banning the sale and purchase of ivory products.

On August 9th at Brookhouse School in Karen, Kenya, a celebration was held in honor of the African elephant. Karanja says it’s important to get children involved in efforts to save the animal.

“We do want to speak to them because we will be handing the baton¹² of guardianship¹³ of the wild lands and of the wildlife to them. So it is important that they get involved early enough and they understand what the issues are,” she said.

While August 12th is World Elephant Day, conservationists also are raising awareness about the rhino¹⁴. In South Africa, home to most of Africa’s Rhinos¹⁵, more than 1,000 were killed last year.

In related news, South Africa plans to evacuate¹⁶ hundreds of rhinos from Kruger National Park to safer locations.  The rhinos have been targets of poachers even within the park's boundaries. Officials say as many as 500 rhinos could be re-located to other parks and communal¹⁷ areas. Neighboring countries may also serve as safe havens¹⁸.

1 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

2 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。

3 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

4 trajectory   

n.弹道，轨道

参考例句：

• It is not difficult to sketch the subsequent trajectory.很容易描绘出它们最终的轨迹。
• The path followed by a projectile is called its trajectory.抛物体所循的路径称为它的轨道。

5 caliber   

n.能力；水准

参考例句：

• They ought to win with players of such high caliber.他们选手的能力这样高,应该获胜。
• We are always trying to improve the caliber of our schools.我们一直在想方设法提高我们学校的水平。

6 goggles   

n.护目镜

参考例句：

• Skiers wear goggles to protect their eyes from the sun.滑雪者都戴上护目镜使眼睛不受阳光伤害。
• My swimming goggles keep steaming up so I can't see.我的护目镜一直有水雾，所以我看不见。

7 ranger   

n.国家公园管理员，护林员；骑兵巡逻队员

参考例句：

• He was the head ranger of the national park.他曾是国家公园的首席看守员。
• He loved working as a ranger.他喜欢做护林人。

8 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

9 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

10 allocate   

vt.分配，分派；把…拨给；把…划归

参考例句：

• You must allocate the money carefully.你们必须谨慎地分配钱。
• They will allocate fund for housing.他们将拨出经费建房。

11 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

12 baton   

n.乐队用指挥杖

参考例句：

• With the baton the conductor was beating time.乐队指挥用指挥棒打拍子。
• The conductor waved his baton,and the band started up.指挥挥动指挥棒，乐队开始演奏起来。

13 guardianship   

n. 监护, 保护, 守护

参考例句：

• They had to employ the English language in face of the jealous guardianship of Britain. 他们不得不在英国疑忌重重的监护下使用英文。
• You want Marion to set aside her legal guardianship and give you Honoria. 你要马丽恩放弃她的法定监护人资格，把霍诺丽娅交给你。

14 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。

15 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

16 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

17 communal   

adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的

参考例句：

• There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
• The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。

18 havens   

n.港口，安全地方( haven的名词复数 )v.港口，安全地方( haven的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Your twenty havens would back out at the last minute anyhow. 你那二十个避难所到了最后一分钟也要不认帐。 来自辞典例句
• Using offshore havens to avoid taxes and investor protections. 使用海面的港口避免税和投资者保护。 来自互联网