时代周刊:动物危机(2)

"Spending by safari¹ tourists is the single biggest funder of conservation in Africa," says Kenya-based conservationist Max Graham, the founder² of Space for Giants, an international charity that protects Africa's elephants and their landscapes. "Because of COVID, that money has disappeared." In the short term that means that veterinary care, endangered-species-rehabilitation programs and community-education efforts have been curtailed⁴.

马克斯·格雷厄姆是一家保护非洲大象及非洲景观的国际慈善机构“巨人空间”的创始人，同时也是肯尼亚的自然资源保护主义者，他说：“游猎游客的花费是非洲自然保护基金最主要的收入来源，但是受新冠的影响，这笔收入没了。”其短期影响就是，兽医护理、濒危物种康复计划以及社区教育努力都将被缩减。

But if tourism numbers don't pick up quickly, the temptation will be to convert some of Africa's 8,400 protected areas into more immediately lucrative⁵ enterprises, such as oil extraction, logging or mining. The welfare of some of Africa's most threatened species will be at risk.

假若游客量无法迅速回升，那么将非洲8400个受保护的地区中的一些转化为可以迅速获利的公司(比如石油开采、伐木或采矿)将变得极具诱惑，如此一来非洲的一些最受威胁物种的福利将面临危机。

Nowhere is that more visible than in the small private game reserves that make up the bulk of South Africa's tourism industry, which indirectly⁶ employs some 1.5 million people and contributes 7% of the country's GDP.

这一点在小型私人狩猎保护区表现最为明显，这些保护区是南非旅游业的主要组成部分，间接雇用了150万人，贡献了南非7%的GDP。

When De Jager decided⁷ to convert his family's dairy farm to a nature reserve 20 years ago, his idea was to reintroduce the rhinos⁹, elephants and lions that once roamed South Africa's Western Cape³. He wanted to preserve as well as educate: Fairy Glen has been a regular stop for school groups from the area. But 90% of the paying visitors come from abroad, and they cover 100% of the reserve's running costs, which amount to approximately $30,000 a month, Wilkens says.

20年前，当德雅格决定将自家的奶牛场改造成自然保护区时，他的想法是重新引入曾经在南非的西开普省游荡的犀牛、大象和狮子。他既想保护森林，又想教育人们：仙女谷是该地区学校团体的固定停留地。威尔肯斯称，90%的付费游客来自国外，他们承担了保护区每月约3万美元的全部的运营成本。

So far, she has been able to stave off her worstcase scenario¹⁰. Unusually heavy rains mean there has been enough forage¹¹ to feed the browsing¹² animals. And when a couple of the antelopes¹⁴ died in a bad storm, Wilkens was able to feed the carcasses to the lions. But cutting staff and security patrols has had consequences. On the night of July 27, one of the reserve's rhinos went missing. After a thorough search, she concluded it must have been stolen or poached. The experience has left her shaken: "I can't help but feel like we let our animals down because we couldn't provide the security they needed because of a loss of income."

到目前为止，她已经能够避免出现最糟糕的情况。意外的暴雨说明他们能够有足够的饲料来喂养那些以草为食的动物。在一场风暴中死亡的几只羚羊的尸体也被用来喂食狮子。不过，裁员和取消安全巡逻带来了后果。7月27日晚，保护区的一头犀牛失踪。经过彻底搜查，她断定犀牛一定是跑了或者被偷猎了。该事件让她极为震惊，她说：“我觉得是我们让动物们失望了，因为没有了收入，我们无法再为它们提供所需的安全。”

Overall, poaching for animal parts such as rhino⁸, horn, and elephant tusk¹⁵ has declined in African game reserves over the COVID period, as it's harder for criminals to sell the products. But conservation organizations say killing¹⁶ wild and endangered animals for their meat, so-called bushmeat poaching, is on the rise. That spike¹⁷, says Graham of Space for Giants, is largely due to the collapse¹⁸ of wildlife tourism. When guides, rangers¹⁹ and resort employees no longer have the income to buy food, some will have no choice but to turn to hunting in the areas they once protected. Wilkens, at Fairy Glen, suspects some of her antelope¹³ may have ended up as someone's dinner. "It's devastating²⁰ for us," she says, "but it is also understandable. They have children to feed. If I were in the same position, I most probably would do the same."

总之，由于销路不好，新冠期间在非洲野生动物保护区偷猎犀牛、角和象牙等动物部位的行为有所减少。但是，保护组织称将野生和濒危动物杀死用来自食的现象在增多。来自“巨人空间”的格雷厄姆称这种激增在很大程度上源于野生动物旅游业的陷落。当导游、护林员和度假村雇员没有收入购买食物时，别无选择的他们只能在自己曾经保护的地区进行狩猎。精灵谷的威尔金斯怀疑自家的一些羚羊最后可能成了某人的晚餐。她说：“这对我们来说是毁灭性的打击，不过我们也能理解，毕竟他们有孩子要养，如果我和他们一样，我也有可能做出同样的选择。”

1 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。

2 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

3 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

4 curtailed   

v.截断，缩短( curtail的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Spending on books has been severely curtailed. 购书开支已被大大削减。
• Their public health programme had to be severely curtailed. 他们的公共卫生计划不得不大大收缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

6 indirectly   

adv.间接地，不直接了当地

参考例句：

• I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
• They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人，他们进行了间接接触。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 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。

9 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

10 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

11 forage   

n.(牛马的)饲料，粮草；v.搜寻，翻寻

参考例句：

• They were forced to forage for clothing and fuel.他们不得不去寻找衣服和燃料。
• Now the nutritive value of the forage is reduced.此时牧草的营养价值也下降了。

12 browsing   

v.吃草( browse的现在分词 )；随意翻阅；（在商店里）随便看看；（在计算机上）浏览信息

参考例句：

• He sits browsing over[through] a book. 他坐着翻阅书籍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Cattle is browsing in the field. 牛正在田里吃草。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 antelope   

n.羚羊；羚羊皮

参考例句：

• Choosing the antelope shows that China wants a Green Olympics.选择藏羚羊表示中国需要绿色奥运。
• The tiger was dragging the antelope across the field.老虎拖着羚羊穿过原野。

14 antelopes   

羚羊( antelope的名词复数 )； 羚羊皮革

参考例句：

• One jump, and you're out, and we'll run for it like antelopes.' 你只要一跳就出来了，我们可以像羚羊那样飞快地逃掉。”
• Most antelopes can withhold their young for weeks, even months. 绝大部分羚羊能把分娩期推迟几个星期，甚至几个月。

15 tusk   

n.獠牙，长牙，象牙

参考例句：

• The wild boar had its tusk sunk deeply into a tree and howled desperately.野猪的獠牙陷在了树里，绝望地嗥叫着。
• A huge tusk decorated the wall of his study.他书房的墙上装饰着一支巨大的象牙。

16 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

17 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

18 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

19 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

20 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。