VOA常速英语2013--南非环保人士以毒制恶拯救犀牛

 

South African Conservationists Use Poison to Save Rhinos² 南非环保人士以毒制恶拯救犀牛

WASHINGTON, D.C. — 

South Africa – home to most of the world’s rhinoceros³ - continues to struggle with effective means to curb⁴ poaching, which has reached alarming rates in recent years. Government and private game reserves are employing a variety of methods, including armed patrols and cutting off Rhino¹ horns or poisoning them to make them worthless on the black market. Several hundred rhino horns have been injected with poison so far this year, in the hopes that it will make some difference in the fight to save the animal from extinction⁵

Rhinos are targeted primarily for their horns, which can be sold for tens of thousands of dollars on the black market in Asia.

偷猎者们主要觊觎犀牛的是在亚洲黑市可以卖到几万美元的角。

The ground up horn is used in traditional Chinese medicine, while the eyes and the tail are sometimes used in witchcraft⁶.

碾成粉的角可以用于中药,而眼睛和尾巴有时则用于巫术。

Graham Shipway, the general manager of a lodge⁷ in the Plumari Africa Game Reserve near Johannesburg, South Africa, has found at least two dead rhinos in recent weeks.

南非约翰内斯堡附近普拉玛丽非洲狩猎保护区总经理格雷厄姆·希普维最近几周已经发现发现了至少两头死去的犀牛。

"A heavy caliber⁸ bullet.

“这是偷猎者们使用的大口径子弹。

They hacked⁹ off her horn… gouged¹⁰ out her eyes… and they cut off her tail.

他们砍下她的角…剜出眼睛…之后切断了尾巴。

All for two kilograms of horn," said Shipway, discussing one of the dead rhinos he found.

一共两公斤的角,“希普维观察一头已经死亡的犀牛时说道。

It is estimated that nearly 800 rhinos have been poached in South Africa so far this year-more than 3 percent of the country's total rhino population.

到目前为止今年据估计南非近800头犀牛已经惨遭猎杀,占全国犀牛总数的3%以上。

Game farm owners have been hiring armed security guards to patrol their reserves, which can be a dangerous job.

农场主人一直雇佣武装保安巡逻他们的保护区,这可是份危险的工作。

Now, they are trying a new tactic¹¹: they poison the rhinos' horns.

现在,他们正在尝试一种新的方式:就是给犀牛角下毒。

The rhino is injected with an anaesthetic, so that it's paralyzed but conscious.

犀牛被注射麻醉剂,虽然瘫痪但仍然有意识。

Then a hole is drilled into its horn, which is injected with a poison that's dyed red.

然后在它的角处钻开一个孔注射染红的毒药。

Conservationist Lorinda Hern says the substance is safe for rhinos, but harmful to humans who ingest it.

生态环境保护者罗琳达·赫恩称这种物质对犀牛无害,但却能够对妄图夺取它的人类造成伤害。

Symptoms include nausea¹², vomiting¹³, diarrhea, nerve damage and even death in extreme cases.

症状包括恶心、呕吐、腹泻、神经损害而且极端情况下甚至致死。

"If you buy a horn and it's a red kind of color, you obviously know that it's been tampered¹⁴ with and that it's not safe for human consumption.

“如果你购买了一只角是这种红色的,你显然就清楚这被动过手脚,而且人类食用不安全。

So, yeah, 60,000 U.S. dollars per kilo versus¹⁵ zero," said Hern, showing how the poison changes the horn's hue¹⁶.

所以,是的, 每公斤60000美元转瞬间化为泡影,” 赫恩说道，展示这种毒药对于犀牛角色调的变化。

Once the procedure is complete, the rhino wakes up groggy¹⁷ but unharmed.

注射毒药只要完成，犀牛就会昏昏沉沉的醒来但却安然无恙。

"It is a little bit sore, hard sore, but I'm happy in the fact that I now know that she is potentially very, very safe," said Shipway.

“这会有点酸痛,硬酸,但我很高兴,事实上,我现在知道,她可能已经非常安全了。”希普维说道。

Conservationists hope to save hundreds of rhinos each year by making their horns worthless to poachers.

环保人士希望通过这种以毒制恶的方式每年拯救数以百计的犀牛。

1 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。

2 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

3 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。

4 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

5 extinction   

n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种

参考例句：

• The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
• The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。

6 witchcraft   

n.魔法，巫术

参考例句：

• The woman practising witchcraft claimed that she could conjure up the spirits of the dead.那个女巫说她能用魔法召唤亡灵。
• All these things that you call witchcraft are capable of a natural explanation.被你们统统叫做巫术的那些东西都可以得到合情合理的解释。

7 lodge   

v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆

参考例句：

• Is there anywhere that I can lodge in the village tonight?村里有我今晚过夜的地方吗？
• I shall lodge at the inn for two nights.我要在这家小店住两个晚上。

8 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。

9 hacked   

生气

参考例句：

• I hacked the dead branches off. 我把枯树枝砍掉了。
• I'm really hacked off. 我真是很恼火。

10 gouged   

v.凿( gouge的过去式和过去分词 )；乱要价；（在…中）抠出…；挖出…

参考例句：

• The lion's claws had gouged a wound in the horse's side. 狮爪在马身一侧抓了一道深口。
• The lovers gouged out their names on the tree. 情人们把他们的名字刻在树上。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

11 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

12 nausea   

n.作呕，恶心；极端的憎恶(或厌恶)

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕期常有恶心的现象。
• He experienced nausea after eating octopus.吃了章鱼后他感到恶心。

13 vomiting   

吐

参考例句：

• Symptoms include diarrhoea and vomiting. 症状有腹泻和呕吐。
• Especially when I feel seasick, I can't stand watching someone else vomiting." 尤其晕船的时候，看不得人家呕。”

14 tampered   

v.窜改( tamper的过去式 )；篡改；（用不正当手段）影响；瞎摆弄

参考例句：

• The records of the meeting had been tampered with. 会议记录已被人擅自改动。 来自辞典例句
• The old man's will has been tampered with. 老人的遗嘱已被窜改。 来自辞典例句

15 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

16 hue   

n.色度；色调；样子

参考例句：

• The diamond shone with every hue under the sun.金刚石在阳光下放出五颜六色的光芒。
• The same hue will look different in different light.同一颜色在不同的光线下看起来会有所不同。

17 groggy   

adj.体弱的；不稳的

参考例句：

• The attack of flu left her feeling very groggy.她患流感后非常虚弱。
• She was groggy from surgery.她手术后的的情况依然很不稳定。