African Wildlife Harder to Protect During Coronavirus

A drop in tourism during the coronavirus crisis¹ is making it more difficult for some organizations to protect threatened wildlife in Africa.

Wildlife officials fear poaching activity will rise because the collapse² of the travel industry leaves less money for guarding animals.

In Kenya, the Ol Pejeta Conservancy project is home to more than 130 black rhinos⁴. It forms the single largest group of the animals in East and Central Africa.

"We are more alert⁵ because maybe more poachers will use this time to come in to poach," said John Tekeles. He is a guard at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. His comments were reported by The Associated Press (AP).

African rhinos have long been under threat from poachers who kill them for their horns. The illegal trade is fueled by the belief, in some cultures, that the horns have medicinal value which has not been proven by science.

The number of black rhinos in Africa has been slowly increasing. But a report in March by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN, said it still considered the animals "critically endangered." In part, the organization credits the comeback of the rhinos to effective law enforcement.

However, Ol Pejeta's director, Richard Vigne, said enforcement measures are very costly⁶. He said he spends about $10,000 each year for every rhino³ to pay for the protection.

"In our case, that comes to close to $2 million a year," Vigne told the AP. "In the time of COVID, when tourism has completely stopped, where most of our revenue⁷ comes from tourism...it's a complete disaster." COVID-19 is the disease caused by the coronavirus.

The conservancy expects to lose $3 to $4 million this year. Vigne said the loss severely⁸ limits the group's ability to protect the rhinos.

Wildlife activists⁹ across Africa are now waiting to see how poachers will react to the current situation, and whether more rare wildlife will be killed.

Poaching of African rhinos had been decreasing in recent years, the IUCN reported. The group said there were 892 acts of poaching in 2018, down from a high of 1,349 in 2015.

The IUCN said the population of black rhinos grew at a yearly rate of 2.5 percent between 2012 and 2018. Now, there are more than 5,600 animals. That growth was predicted to continue over the next five years, the environmental group said.

I'm Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

tourism – n. the business of visiting a place for pleasure

poach – v. to catch and kill animals without permission on someone else's land

alert – n. quick to see, understand or act in a particular situation

critically – adv. in a way that is serious or bad

endangered – adj. in danger of being harmed or lost

revenue – n. the profits made from a business

1 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

2 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。

3 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。

4 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

5 alert   

adj.机警的，活泼的，机灵的；vt.使...警觉

参考例句：

• Drivers must be on the alert for traffic signals.驾驶员必须密切注意交通信号。
• The rabbIt'seems to be very alert all its life.兔子似乎一生都小心翼翼，十分警觉。

6 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

7 revenue   

n.总收入，财政收入，税收；税务局

参考例句：

• The country diminished the revenue by reducing tax.这个国家通过减税而使税收减少了。
• A government's revenue and expenditure should be balanced.政府的财政收入和支出要平衡。

8 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

9 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》