ENVIRONMENT REPORT - Whooping Crane Recovery Project

ENVIRONMENT REPORT -May 17, 2002: Whooping¹ Crane Recovery Project

By Cynthia Kirk
This is the VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT.

Scientists are trying to create the first migrating² group of whooping cranes in the eastern United States in more
than one-hundred years. Migrating birds fly long distances to different areas of the country when the seasons
change. For example, they fly from cold areas to warm areas to spend the winter.

The migration³ project is designed to increase the number of whooping cranes. These
large, beautiful birds are in danger of disappearing.

Cranes are one of the most threatened families of birds in the world. Whooping
cranes are the rarest of all cranes. There are fewer than three-hundred-fifty birds left
in the world.

Whooping cranes do not produce many baby birds. That makes it difficult to replace
birds killed by hunting, natural events, animals, accidents and disease. Scientists
hope the migration effort will lead to increased reproduction among whooping
cranes.

In October, researchers trained eight young whooping cranes to fly behind small
airplanes. The planes led the endangered birds on their first migration. They flew
from the middle western state of Wisconsin to a protected area in the southeastern
state of Florida for the winter.

The cranes and planes arrived in Florida in December, following a fifty-day flight.
They flew across seven states. One crane died during the trip. Two others were
killed by animals in Florida.

The five remaining whooping cranes returned to the
Necedah (neh-SEE-dah) National Wildlife Refuge⁴ in
Wisconsin on their own last month. The return north
was the cranes’
first unassisted migration. They were
guided only by their natural abilities.

Scientists from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the International
Crane Foundation have been studying the birds since they began their northern
migration. They say their flight back to Wisconsin was quicker than anyone had
expected. It took ten days and covered almost two-thousand kilometers.

Scientists had known that existing wild whooping cranes were able to fly great distances during migration. But
they did not know if they could teach young whooping cranes to migrate⁵.

The scientists will observe these whooping cranes during the summer and as they migrate back south in the fall.
Scientists hope the effort will teach them more about how to save the endangered birds.

This VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT was written by Cynthia Kirk.

Email this article to a friend
Printer Friendly Version

 

Wisconsin is at the top of
the red dotted line, Florida
is at the bottom

1 whooping   

发嗬嗬声的，发咳声的

参考例句：

• Whooping cough is very prevalent just now. 百日咳正在广泛流行。
• Have you had your child vaccinated against whooping cough? 你给你的孩子打过百日咳疫苗了吗？

2 migrating   

v.迁移，移往( migrate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The mudflats offer a winter home to thousands of migrating swans. 泥滩成为成千上万只迁徙的天鹅越冬的场所。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many Asians are migrating to the West. 许多亚洲人移民去了西方国家。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

4 refuge   

n.避难（处），庇护（所）；v.庇护，避难（所）

参考例句：

• They took refuge in a cave yesterday.他们昨天是在一个洞里避难的。
• We took refuge in the lee of the wall.我们在墙的背风处暂避。

5 migrate   

vi.（候鸟等）迁徙，移居（国外），迁移

参考例句：

• Many birds migrate south for the winter.冬天时，许多鸟类迁徙南方。
• The rich people often migrate in winter to Florida.有钱的人常在冬季搬迁到佛罗里达州去。