VOA慢速英语2023--Medicinal Earthworms Sought in Vietnam to Fill Chinese Demand

Medicinal Earthworms Sought in Vietnam to Fill Chinese Demand

China is facing a continuing decrease in its supply of earthworms used for medicine. Hunters in Vietnam are attempting to catch the animals to meet Chinese demand.

Chinese traditional medicine uses earthworms to treat several conditions, including fever, arthritis¹ and lung problems. But overhunting has made it difficult to keep harvesting the animals in China.

This has led hunters in Vietnam to dig up earthworms to sell to Chinese companies. However, Vietnamese farmers depend on the animals to keep their fields fertile and the environment balanced. The earthworm harvesting, mainly in northern areas of the country, is hurting farming operations.

Chinese buyers are offering a lot of money for earthworms, Vietnam's VnExpress recently reported. The harvests are taking place unlawfully at private fields and fruit farms, the news service said.

The hunts have led orange farmers in Hoa Binh province to carry out 24-hour guard operations to stop the poachers, Vietnam's VTC News reported. The farmers have asked Vietnamese agriculture officials for help. VOA's Vietnamese service contacted the country's Agriculture Ministry² for comment, but did not receive an answer.

Catching³ earthworms is "easy money" for poachers, the Vietnamnet newspaper reported, with each kilogram of wet earthworms bringing in between $3 to $3.30. Some poachers can capture up to 100 to 120 kilograms of earthworms per night, earning hundreds of dollars, Vietnamnet said.

Hunters use electric signals to drive earthworms up to the surface. The animals are then processed before being sold to Chinese sellers, the newspaper reported.

The harvesting activities have led to an "extinction⁴-level ecological⁵ disaster" in China. Poachers who now face police enforcement in China are looking to Vietnam for earthworms.

Biologist Nguyen Lan Hung is a professor at Hanoi's National University of Education and chief of Vietnam's Association for Biological Sciences. He told VOA the usefulness of earthworms has a long history in traditional medicine.

"During the anti-French independence war, our soldiers used to eat earthworms to treat malaria," Hung said. He noted⁶ that they are now used to make heart and brain drugs. Hung suggested setting up legal farming of earthworms to prevent poaching. The country already has experience raising worms used for breaking down substances in soil.

Vo Tong Xuan is an agronomist⁷ who is also president of Vietnam's Nam Can Tho University. Both Xuan and Hung warned that the collection process damages the quality of the soil, crops and overall agriculture environment. Without earthworms, soil can become hard and roots find it difficult to draw in water, Xuan said. This can harm plant growth and also cause flooding.

Xuan said he would like Vietnam to criminalize the gathering⁸ of earthworms with electricity. For now, poachers are only detained and released after police seize their devices and captures, VTC News reported.

The earthworm is not the only in-demand product in China that has been sought in Vietnam. In the past, this has included buffalo⁹ hooves, leeches¹¹ and nut products for use in traditional medicine. Those efforts also caused environmental damage in Vietnam.

Words in This Story

poach – v. to illegally catch of kill animals

extinction – n. a situation in which a kind of animal no longer exists

 

leech¹⁰ – n. a kind of worm that lives in wet places and attaches itself to the bodies of humans and animals to feed on their blood

1 arthritis   

n.关节炎

参考例句：

• Rheumatoid arthritis has also been linked with the virus.风湿性关节炎也与这种病毒有关。
• He spent three months in the hospital with acute rheumatic arthritis.他患急性风湿性关节炎，在医院住了三个月。

2 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

3 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

4 extinction   

n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种

参考例句：

• The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
• The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。

5 ecological   

adj.生态的，生态学的

参考例句：

• The region has been declared an ecological disaster zone.这个地区已经宣布为生态灾难区。
• Each animal has its ecological niche.每种动物都有自己的生态位.

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 agronomist   

n.农学家

参考例句：

• The agronomist suggested growing rice on the dried river bed.那位农学家建议在干涸的河床上种水稻。
• She has elected to become an agronomist.她决心做一个农学家。

8 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

9 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

10 leech   

n.水蛭，吸血鬼，榨取他人利益的人；vt.以水蛭吸血；vi.依附于别人

参考例句：

• A leech is a small blood-sucking worm and usually lives in water.水蛭是一种小型吸血虫，通常生活在水中。
• One-side love like a greedy leech absorbed my time and my mirth.单相思如同一只贪婪的水蛭，吸走了我的时间和欢笑。

11 leeches   

n.水蛭( leech的名词复数 )；蚂蟥；榨取他人脂膏者；医生

参考例句：

• The usurers are leeches;they have drained us dry. 高利贷者是吸血鬼，他们吸干了我们的血汗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Does it run in the genes to live as leeches? 你们家是不是遗传的，都以欺压别人为生？ 来自电影对白