VOA慢速英语2021--研究人员绘制全球野生动物地图

Matt Kauffman is a wildlife researcher at the University of Wyoming. He leads the Wyoming Migration¹ Initiative, which studies the migratory² paths of animals like deer and elk³ in the American state of Wyoming.

In 2019, Kauffman and other scientists were talking at a conference in Italy. He began thinking that wildlife around the world had the same difficulties faced by Wyoming's migratory deer and elk.

"We just spontaneously got together, nine or 10 of us who work on migrations⁴ around the world," Kauffman told the Jackson Hole News & Guide. "We realized that a lot of the same things we were trying to address by mapping migrations in Wyoming were applicable globally."

Their talk in 2019 was the beginning of an international effort that now includes 92 scientists and environmentalists. Their effort is called the Global Initiative on Ungulate Migration. Ungulates are animals with hoofed⁵ feet, like deer and elk.

The aim is to gather information on the seasonal⁶ movements of gazelles and saiga in Mongolia to Norwegian reindeer⁷. The hundreds of paths would then be presented in an electronic migration map. The researchers wrote a report that recently appeared in the publication Science.

The report describes how animal movements over long distances to get food and other resources are not doing so well. The main reason for the struggles comes from land development by humans. Roads and fences create barriers for the animals, restricting their movement. And the warming of the planet has also unsettled environmental systems.

The possibility of losing some ungulate migrations makes mapping and protecting the paths that much more urgent. Migration was not well understood until recently. GPS technologies enabled researchers to document the exact paths that animals take across land. Historic data about numbers of animals traveling those paths is largely lacking.

Atle Mysterud, a biology professor at the University of Oslo in Norway, is one of the scientists working with Kauffman on the international effort. He said he hopes the effort will help Norway take steps to recognize and plan in a way that preserves its migratory reindeer, red deer and moose. Today, that recognition and planning is lacking. Many of the northern European migrations are in decline.

Mysterud said, "It remains⁸ to be seen if this is a starting point of a new direction or if it will be some kind of historical map of how the migrations used to be."

Joe Ogutu studies migratory east African wildebeest, zebra and Thomson's gazelle for the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart, Germany. Since 2015, he has watched the ungulate migration called Mara-Loita in southwestern Kenya stop working because of fence-building and sharing land space with hundreds of thousands of sheep and goats.

"This migration, we can save," Ogutu told the News & Guide. "It has collapsed⁹, but it has not died, because the animals that participated in the migration are still there."

Ogutu hopes that the Global Initiative on Ungulate Migration brings attention to the Mara-Loita migration and other at-risk paths. Publicity¹⁰ and attention, he said, will hopefully lead to its restoration and protection.

The global effort is in partnership¹¹ with the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, a United Nations agreement.

The virtual map will use GPS tracking technology, mapping software and data-sharing applications, along with local and indigenous¹² knowledge. Another goal of the project is to map lost migrations, documenting local and historical knowledge of animal movements.

Words in This Story

attention – n. notice, interest, or awareness¹³

hoofed – adj. having the hard covering on the foot of an animal such as a horse or pig

globally – adv. in a way that relates to the whole world

GPS – n. a radio system that uses signals from satellites to tell you where you are and to give you directions to other places

indigenous – adj. produced, living, or existing naturally in a particular region or environment

migration – n. the act or an instance of moving from one place to another often on a regular basis

spontaneously – adv. done or said in a natural and often sudden way and without a lot of thought or planning

virtual – adj. existing or occurring on computers or on the Internet

1 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

2 migratory   

n.候鸟，迁移

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• This does not negate the idea of migratory aptitude.这并没有否定迁移能力这一概念。

3 elk   

n.麋鹿

参考例句：

• I was close enough to the elk to hear its labored breathing.我离那头麋鹿非常近，能听见它吃力的呼吸声。
• The refuge contains the largest wintering population of elk in the world.这座庇护所有着世界上数量最大的冬季麋鹿群。

4 migrations   

n.迁移，移居( migration的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It foundered during the turmoils accompanying the Great Migrations. 它在随着民族大迁徙而出现的混乱中崩溃。 来自辞典例句
• Birds also have built-in timepieces which send them off on fall and spring migrations. 鸟类也有天生的时间感应器指导它们秋春迁移。 来自互联网

5 hoofed   

adj.有蹄的，蹄形状的，装蹄的v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was hoofed out of the Guards. 他被开除出警卫队。 来自互联网
• He hoofed his way to town. 他步行去了城里。 来自互联网

6 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。

7 reindeer   

n.驯鹿

参考例句：

• The herd of reindeer was being trailed by a pack of wolves.那群驯鹿被一只狼群寻踪追赶上来。
• The life of the Reindeer men was a frontier life.驯鹿时代人的生活是一种边区生活。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

10 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

11 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

12 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

13 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。