VOA常速英语2007年-Exotic Animals Find Home in Texas

By Barry Wood
Fossil Rim¹, Texas
26 November 2007
 

To see some of the world's most impressive wild animals, many people travel to Africa and go on a safari².  But people in Texas can find some of these exotic animals close to home, not just in zoos, but in special sanctuaries³ set up to help the animals survive and live in relatively⁴ open areas much as they would in the wild. In this report, VOA's Greg Flakus takes us on a Texas safari.

The king of beasts feels right at home at the International Exotic Animal Sanctuary⁵ northwest of Fort Worth. Here, animals are not confined to small cages, but have plenty of room to move around.

This non-profit organization for big, fearsome creatures is directed by Richard Gilbreth. "It is a mutual⁶ respect between us and them. Everything we do is based on safety.  That is the first and foremost deal out here is safety for us and also for the animals," he says.

Many of these animals were abused or abandoned before finding shelter here.  Gilbreth says there is a great need to help such creatures, but his non-profit facility can only do so much.

"If we cannot provide them a quality of life, I do not take the animal in.  That is the reason we only have 63 cats and seven bears at the moment. If I took in everything that I got a phone call for I would have 500 animals in a year and then we could not provide for them."

A couple of hours drive south from the sanctuary is another chunk⁷ of Texas prairie devoted⁸ to exotic animals.

At the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, visitors can drive through and even feed some of the animals.

Jan Bussey, who has worked here since the mid-1980s, says many of the animals from Africa feel right at home here in Texas. "We can give them very similar climate. A number of people that come here who have been to Africa say our land looks a lot like what they saw. But we can get them away from the strife⁹, the wars, and into a safe location for breeding," she explains.

At Fossil Rim, such animals as the cheetah¹⁰ and rhinoceros¹¹ are kept in special enclosures and bred in an effort to keep their species healthy and ensure their survival.

Some are reintroduced in their native lands, but Jan Bussey says zoos also rely on Fossil Rim for animals that otherwise might be hard to come by. "So they can come here, where we can do some good breeding, and get animals to use for educating the public without having to go back to the wild and get an already endangered resource."

The animals from Africa and other faraway places share this area with some at-home Texas critters, like deer, who just happened to be in these hills long before the park was established.  But the animals all get along fine here, not feeling exotic at all in their Texas home.

1 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

2 safari   

n.远征旅行(探险、考察)；探险队，狩猎队

参考例句：

• When we go on safari we like to cook on an open fire.我们远行狩猎时，喜欢露天生火做饭。
• They went on safari searching for the rare black rhinoceros.他们进行探险旅行，搜寻那稀有的黑犀牛。

3 sanctuaries   

n.避难所( sanctuary的名词复数 )；庇护；圣所；庇护所

参考例句：

• The designation of special marine reserves and marine sanctuaries shall be subject to the State Council for approval. 海洋特别保护区、海上自然保护区的确定，须经国务院批准。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After 1965 he acquiesced when they established sanctuaries on that soil. 1965年以后，他默认了他们在那块土地上建立庇护所。 来自辞典例句

4 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

5 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

6 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

7 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

8 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

9 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

10 cheetah   

n.(动物)猎豹

参考例句：

• The cheetah is generally credited as the world's fastest animal.猎豹被公认是世界上跑得最快的动物。
• The distribution of the cheetah ranges from Africa to Central Asia.印度豹的足迹遍及从非洲到中亚的广大地区。

11 rhinoceros   

n.犀牛

参考例句：

• The rhinoceros has one horn on its nose.犀牛鼻子上有一个角。
• The body of the rhinoceros likes a cattle and the head likes a triangle.犀牛的形体像牛，头呈三角形。