被虐待的黑猩猩在塞拉利昂野生动物保护区找到了家

Abused Chimpanzees Find Home in Sierra Leone Wildlife Refuge

For more than 20 years, the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary² has cared for abused chimpanzees and chimps³ whose mothers have died. Victims of the illegal wildlife trade, the animals often arrive at the sanctuary with many problems.

The wildlife refuge was set up near Freetown, Sierra Leone, in 1995. Since then, the sanctuary has accepted 77 chimpanzees, all victims of the wildlife trafficking.

Money to operate the camp comes from the European Union, several zoos in western countries and environmental groups.

Willie Tucker serves as the camp’s supervisor⁴. He has been with the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary since it opened. He says that the illegal trade of chimpanzees is inhumane and hurts local ape populations.

"One chimpanzee pet at home means several other chimpanzees would have been killed in the process…because in the capture a young chimpanzee from the forest, you must first interfere⁵ with the mother…you end up killing⁶ the mother first, the father, the uncles.”

The sanctuary has a program to help chimpanzees as they recover from abuse. Tucker says the surviving chimps often arrive at the camp with bullet or knife wounds. Others were starving.

“Sometimes they are living in bad conditions. So when they get here, we make sure that we change their diet slowly.”

He adds that the chimpanzees are given vaccinations⁷ to protect them against diseases such as polio and tetanus. Once healthy, they get to meet and spend time with other chimps.

Over time, the animals are placed in an enclosed, semi-wild environment, where they can look for food and act as naturally as they would in the wild. But many chimps reject the wild life.

“Chimpanzees, once kept as pets, it’s difficult to be released. It’s like they have been used to staying with people. It’s possible that even after 20 or 30 years you send them back to the jungle without any controlled areas and they will find their way back to people’s homes.”

Sierra Leone’s chimpanzee trade has dropped sharply in the past few years. Tucker believes this is resulted from Tacugama’s education program for local communities, which teaches people to leave the animals alone.

David Momoh heads those programs.

“Since the sanctuary started, we were getting something like five to six chimps a year, but now we are looking at the point we take only maybe one chimp¹ a year.”

But now, there is a new threat to Sierra Leone’s chimpanzee population: the clearing of forests. In 2010, the government reported that just five percent of original forests remain untouched.

And development is moving closer to those few remaining forests, including the one at the national park around Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary.

Momoh says more housing is being built in and around Freetown because of the city’s growing population. He says this has led to a lot of deforestation, even within the protected area itself.

Momoh believes the government must increase its efforts to protect the natural habitat of chimpanzees. But until then, the animals can find sanctuary at Tacugama.

I’m Susan Shand.

Words in This Story

sanctuary – n. a place where someone or something is protected or given shelter

zoo – n. a place where many animals are kept

pet – n. an animal kept for pleasure or company, not for its usefulness

semi – prefix⁸ Partial or incomplete

jungle – n. a thick growth of plants; a large area usually covered with a think growth of plants

original – adj. of or relating to a beginning; not secondary

park – n. a piece of ground kept for recreation; a space occupied by animals or plants

1 chimp   

n.黑猩猩

参考例句：

• In fact,the color of gorilla and chimp are light-color.其实大猩猩和黑猩猩的肤色是较为浅的。
• The chimp is the champ.猩猩是冠军。

2 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。

3 chimps   

（非洲）黑猩猩( chimp的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Chimps are too scarce, and too nearly human, to be routinely slaughtered for spare parts. 黑猩猩又太少，也太接近于人类，不可以作为人器官备用件说杀就杀。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 医学的第四次革命
• And as nonprimates, they provoke fewer ethical and safety-related concerns than chimps or baboons. 而且作为非灵长类，就不会产生像用黑猩猩或狒狒那样的伦理和安全方面的顾虑。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 医学的第四次革命

4 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

5 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

6 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。

7 vaccinations   

n.种痘，接种( vaccination的名词复数 )；牛痘疤

参考例句：

• Vaccinations ensure one against diseases. 接种疫苗可以预防疾病。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I read some publicity about vaccinations while waiting my turn at the doctor's. 在医生那儿候诊时，我读了一些关于接种疫苗的宣传。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 prefix   

n.前缀；vt.加…作为前缀；置于前面

参考例句：

• We prefix "Mr."to a man's name.我们在男士的姓名前加“先生”。
• In the word "unimportant ","un-" is a prefix.在单词“unimportant”中“un”是前缀。