2007年VOA标准英语-Rare Gorilla Found Dead in Congo Sting

By Noel King
Kigali
26 September 2007

A female mountain gorilla¹ has been found dead in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's Virunga National Park, bringing the death toll² of the rare animals to 10 so far this year, wildlife groups said Wednesday. Fighting between the Congolese army and rebels in the region has imperiled the already endangered species. Noel King has more in this report from Kigali.

A young female gorilla was found dead during a sting operation conducted this week by rangers³ at Congo 's Virunga National Park on a ring of gorilla traffickers.

Two members of the trafficking ring were arrested.

Conservationists say they believe the trafficking ring intended to sell the gorilla for around $8,000.

 

Samantha Newport, spokeswoman for conservation advocacy group, WildlifeDirect, spoke⁴ to VOA by phone from Goma in eastern Congo.

 

She said fighting in the region between dissident former general Laurent Nkunda and the Congolese army had chased park rangers from their stations more than three weeks ago.

Since then, rangers have been unable to monitor or track the gorillas⁵.

"All sorts of things could have been going on in the gorilla sector⁶," she said. "It does allow for increased lawlessness in the gorilla sector when there is fighting between the army and the rebels, because the rangers are simply prevented from doing their job."

 

Newport said instability in eastern Congo has dramatically threatened the population of rare gorillas in the region.

There are only around 700 of the animals left in the wild today living in Congo and neighboring Uganda and Rwanda.

Ten gorillas have been killed in Virunga national park since fighting erupted between forces loyal to Nkunda and the Congolese army. WildlifeDirect says 150 rangers have also been killed in the volatile⁷ region in the past 10 years.

1 gorilla   

n.大猩猩，暴徒，打手

参考例句：

• I was awed by the huge gorilla.那只大猩猩使我惊惧。
• A gorilla is just a speechless animal.猩猩只不过是一种不会说话的动物。

2 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。

3 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

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 gorillas   

n.大猩猩( gorilla的名词复数 )；暴徒，打手

参考例句：

• the similitude between humans and gorillas 人类和大猩猩的相像
• Each family of gorillas is led by a great silverbacked patriarch. 每个大星星家族都由一个魁梧的、长着银色被毛的族长带领着。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

7 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。