VOA慢速英语2021--没游客少食物,巴厘岛猴子袭击村庄

With Lack of Visitors, Bali Monkeys Raid¹ Homes of Villagers

Hungry monkeys on the island of Bali, Indonesia are now raiding² the homes of local villagers in their search for something tasty.

The creatures can no longer depend on visitors to provide their favorite foods, including bananas, peanuts, and other treats. The visitors have stopped coming because of the coronavirus crisis³.

Villagers in Sangeh say the gray monkeys, known as long-tailed macaques, have been leaving their protected area that is about 500 meters away. The creatures position themselves on top of homes and wait for the right time to come down and get food.

Villagers are concerned that the visits could turn into a large monkey invasion⁴. So they have been taking fruit, peanuts and other food to the Sangeh Monkey Forest to try to keep the monkeys happy.

Villager Saskara Gustu Alit told The Associated Press, "We are afraid that the hungry monkeys will turn wild and vicious⁵."

Vicious is a term that means very violent and cruel.

About 600 of the monkeys live in the protected forest area, swinging from the tall trees and moving around the area near the famous Pura Bukit Sari temple.

In normal times, the protected jungle area of the Indonesian island is popular with local people as well as international visitors. The relatively⁶ calm monkeys can be easily persuaded to sit with a person for a peanut or two.

Tourism is the main source of money for Bali's 4 million people. The island welcomed more than 5 million foreign visitors every year before the coronavirus crisis.

The Sangeh Monkey Forest usually had about 6,000 visitors a month. But as the pandemic spread last year and international travel decreased, that number dropped to about 500.

Since July, there have been no visitors. The government banned foreign travelers to the island and closed the monkeys' area to local residents⁷ as well.

Made Mohon is the operations manager for the protected area.

He said the restrictions⁸ have not only resulted in less food being brought to the monkeys, but also reduced the amount of admission⁹ money from visitors. The drop in admissions¹⁰ has made it difficult to buy enough food for the creatures.

Gifts from villagers have helped, but locals are also feeling the economic difficulties and are giving less and less, he added.

Made Mohon described the coronavirus crisis as being "beyond our expectations." He added, "Food for monkeys has become a problem."

Food costs run about $60 a day, Made Mohon said, for 200 kilograms of cassava and 10 kilograms of bananas.

The macaque can eat a number of animals and plants found in the jungle. But those in the Sangeh Monkey Forest have had so much contact with humans over the years that they are now used to other things.

Gustu Alit said the monkeys are not afraid to take matters into their own hands. Normally¹¹, they spend all day with visitors — stealing sunglasses and water bottles, pulling at clothes, jumping on shoulders. But Gustu Alit said the monkeys are now hungry and bored, which could result in problems for the village.

"That's why I have urged villagers here to come to the forest to play with the monkeys and offer them food," he said. "I think they need to interact¹² with humans as often as possible so that they do not go wild."

Words in This Story

swing – v. to move backward and forward or from side to side while hanging from something

jungle – n. an area of land, usually in tropical¹³ countries, where trees and plants go close together

tourism – n. the activity of traveling to a place for pleasure

admission – n. the cost of entering a theater, sports stadium, museum, etc

bored – adj. feeling tired and annoyed, or uninterested

interact – v. to talk or do things with other people

1 raid   

v.劫掠，攫取，袭击，突击搜捕；n.突然袭击

参考例句：

• Our house was blown up in an air raid.在一次空袭中我们的房子被炸掉了。
• During their raid on the house,the police found a lot of drugs.在对这所房子的搜查中，警方发现了大量的毒品。

2 raiding   

对…进行突然袭击（raid的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• A 19-year-old man has been found guilty of raiding a bank. 一个19岁的男子被判抢劫银行罪。
• But Magellan sent disguised raiding parties aboard the Victoria and the Santiago and recaptured them. 但麦哲伦派出便衣搜查“维多利亚号”和“圣地亚哥号”，并收复了它们。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史

3 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。

4 invasion   

n.入侵，侵略，侵犯

参考例句：

• They are ready against the possible invasion.他们防备可能的入侵。
• It is our duty to shield our country from invasion.保卫祖国不受侵犯是我们的责任。

5 vicious   

adj.恶毒的，恶意的，凶残的，剧烈的，严重的

参考例句：

• He gave the dog a vicious blow with his stick.他朝着那只狗狠狠地打了一棍子。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard.作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。

6 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

7 residents   

n.居民( resident的名词复数 )；（旅馆的）住宿者

参考例句：

• Plans to build a new mall were deep-sixed after protests from local residents. 修建新室内购物中心的计划由于当地居民反对而搁浅。
• Local residents have reacted angrily to the news. 当地居民对这一消息表示愤怒。

8 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

9 admission   

n.允许进入；承认；入场费，入会费，入场券

参考例句：

• We attached a condition to his admission to our school.我们对准许他入校附加了一个条件。
• By her own admission,she was responsible for the accident.她自己承认，事故应该由她负责。

10 admissions   

n.准许进入( admission的名词复数 )；入场费；入场券；承认

参考例句：

• a need-blind admissions policy 不考虑经济能力的录取政策
• He's the Dean of Admissions for the University of Michigan. 他是Michigan大学的新生注册主任。 来自辞典例句

11 normally   

adv.正常地，通常地

参考例句：

• I normally do all my shopping on Saturdays.我通常在星期六买东西。
• My pulse beats normally.我脉搏正常。

12 interact   

vi.相互作用，相互影响，互通信息

参考例句：

• All things are interrelated and interact on each other.一切事物互相联系并相互作用。
• The policeman advised the criminal to interact with the police.警察劝罪犯与警方合作。

13 tropical   

adj.热带的，热带的，炎热的

参考例句：

• You must grow these tropical flowers in a glasshouse.你必须把这些热带花卉种在温室里。
• This disease is widespread in tropical areas.这种疾病在热带地区蔓延很广。