VOA新闻杂志2024--Zimbabwean Officials Train Children to Coexist with Dangerous Wildlife

In Zimbabwe, increased wildlife activity near people has put children in rural areas at greater risk of animal attacks while walking to school.

Officials and some parents hope a campaign to teach children how to identify danger could reduce risks.

No deaths have been reported, but student Esther Bote and her friends remain careful.

"We usually walk in groups to feel safer," said the fourteen-year-old. The five-kilometer walk to school includes travel through thick forest.

Savé Valley Conservancy, a private group, and Zimbabwe's parks agency run the program for school-age children. It teaches them how to recognize danger signs and how to coexist with wildlife.

Many students, like Esther, are now able to identify the footprints of animals and the sounds they make. They also know how to read the direction of the wind and when and where to seek shelter.

Dingani Masuku of Savé Valley Conservancy said wildlife affects children more than other people. He said children walk to school and often do household jobs like getting water and firewood. Such activity means they are outside often.

Masaku said, "That's why we are targeting schools so that they can know how animals behave, what to do with the animals."

He added that the campaign is trying to teach children "a sense of ownership," so they "don't see the animal as an adversary¹, but they see it as something beneficial to the community, something which should be respected."

Education efforts

Recently at Chiyambiro Secondary School, a young woman was teaching children about the dangers of wild animals. The 18-year-old recently left school to become part of a group of young woman rangers³.

"Don't approach an animal. If it's a lion, it's looking for food. That's why it's in the community. It is looking for cheap, easy prey⁴, and you could be the easy prey."

Some of the children said they travel up to 15 kilometers to get to school. They said they have to start walking to school before the sun rises when animals such as hyenas⁵ are still awake and active.

An official from the national parks agency spoke⁶ to the children about why wildlife is important to the community. He said wildlife supports the country's tourism industry and leads to job creation, such as the new ranger² positions.

Alphonce Chimangaisu is the chair of the school development committee at the Chiyambiro Secondary School. He said parents hope the information campaign will make children safer.

"Some parents have stopped their children from going to school because they don't know what might happen," he said.

School officials in affected⁷ rural areas often must delay the start of the day's classes and end them early. The president of the Amalgamated⁸ Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, Obert Masaraure, said school officials are trying to let children walk to and from school during daylight hours. That is when wild animals are less likely to be around.

"We have reports of learners who have completely withdrawn⁹ from school fearing for their lives," Masaraure said. He also noted¹⁰ that teachers who live far from schools are increasingly missing work. He said all these problems are making it more difficult for rural learners to get a "quality education."

Tinashe Farawo is a Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority official. He said wild animals are going into communities for food and water because of dry weather conditions, also called drought. The official said the parks agency is pushing for animal behavior and conservation training at schools around the country.

Farawo also said children teach their parents what they have learned. He said the agency has established environmental clubs at many schools to bring attention to the issue.

The official noted that conflicts had gotten worse because of drought. He said the parks agency had received between 3,000 and 4,000 emergency calls from communities battling wildlife in three years. In 2018, there were only 900 calls.

Words in This Story

adversary -n. an enemy

beneficial -adj. something that has a good effect or that provides something useful

ranger -n. a person who helps to supervise a forest area

approach -n. to move closer to something; to near

cheap -adj. at a low cost; easy to get

prey -n. an animal that is the object of a hunt

1 adversary   

adj.敌手，对手

参考例句：

• He saw her as his main adversary within the company.他将她视为公司中主要的对手。
• They will do anything to undermine their adversary's reputation.他们会不择手段地去损害对手的名誉。

2 ranger   

n.国家公园管理员，护林员；骑兵巡逻队员

参考例句：

• He was the head ranger of the national park.他曾是国家公园的首席看守员。
• He loved working as a ranger.他喜欢做护林人。

3 rangers   

护林者( ranger的名词复数 )； 突击队员

参考例句：

• Do you know where the Rangers Stadium is? 你知道Rangers体育场在哪吗？ 来自超越目标英语 第3册
• Now I'm a Rangers' fan, so I like to be near the stadium. 现在我是Rangers的爱好者，所以我想离体育场近一点。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

4 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

5 hyenas   

n.鬣狗( hyena的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These animals were the prey of hyenas. 这些动物是鬣狗的猎物。 来自辞典例句
• We detest with horror the duplicity and villainy of the murderous hyenas of Bukharinite wreckers. 我们非常憎恨布哈林那帮两面三刀、杀人破坏，干尽坏事的豺狼。 来自辞典例句

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

8 amalgamated   

v.（使）（金属）汞齐化( amalgamate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）合并；联合；结合

参考例句：

• The company has now amalgamated with another local firm. 这家公司现在已与当地一家公司合并了。
• Those two organizations have been amalgamated into single one. 那两个组织已合并为一个组织。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

10 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。