VOA慢速英语--大型动物改变了前军事基地的土地

Large Animals Change the Land of a Former Military Base

Wild horses, bison and other large animals once moved freely¹ in much of Europe. Now, these animals are changing a former military base outside of Prague, the Czech capital.

Where Soviet² soldiers once held military exercises, large cattle called tauros now eat invasive plants that began growing on the property years ago. The animals are turning the former Milovice military base back into a kind of grassland³ or steppe.

Five years ago, conservationists released⁵ the large animals at Milovice. The animals' job is to improve diversity among local plants. They do this by eating invasive plants while saving⁶ rare or endangered ones, said Dalibor Dostal, the director of European Wildlife, an organization supporting the project.

"Nobody expected that the whole process would go ahead so fast and the area would change so much in just a few years," Dostal said.

He added the large animals are as important to saving the grassland "as trees are for forests."

This year, conservationists hope to increase the size of the wildlife sanctuary⁷ by one-third to 360 hectares.

David Storch is a professor at Charles University in Prague. Storch, who was not involved in the project, described it as "absolutely unique."

He believes that it shows that nature can be saved not only by protecting it from human activities, but also by using large animals to shape the environment. While wild horses like to eat invasive grasses, European bison and tauros enjoy eating larger plants like bushes.

The Czech project includes tauros that came from the Netherlands. There, a special breeding⁸ program attempted to bring back a creature that was like the aurochs, which are the wild ancestor of modern cattle. Aurochs died out in the 17th century.

The wild horses came from Britain's Exmoor National Park, while European bison came from Poland.

The project now has 25 tauros, about 70 wild horses, and 27 European bison.

The animals move freely. They can care for themselves, even in winter.

After the animals' release⁴, the landscape quickly showed signs of change. Flowers started to appear as early as the second year of the project.

Today, the whole area changes colors over the course of the year, depending on which flowers are in bloom⁹. One of the rarest is the star gentian, also known as a cross gentian. The blue flower is now growing at Milovice more than anywhere else in the Czech Republic.

Many other animals and insects are now plentiful¹⁰ at the former base. The Adonis blue butterfly has been seen there for the first time since 1967.

Miloslav Jirku, a biologist with the Czech Academy¹¹ of Sciences, has been involved in the project from its beginning.

"If we give nature a chance, if we give it time and space, it can take care of many things," he said. "At the very beginning, I thought that lots of species¹² that used to be here in the 1990s would have to be returned artificially¹³. Today, a number of them are already here without us doing anything about it," he added.

I'm John Russell.

Words in This Story

conservationist – n. someone who acts for the protection of wildlife or the environment

diversity – n. a mixture of different things

sanctuary – n. a place or safety

absolutely – adv. completely or totally

unique – adj. used to say that something or someone is unlike anything or anyone else

over the course – expression: during or throughout

bloom – v. to produce flowers; be in flower

artificially – adv. not natural or real; made, produced, or done to seem like something natural

1 freely   

adv.自由地，随便地，无拘无束地

参考例句：

• She was unable to keep back her tears,and wept freely.她抑制不住泪水，痛痛快快地哭了起来。
• A liquid flows freely and has no fixed shape.液体能自由流动，无固定形态。

2 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

3 grassland   

n.牧场，草地，草原

参考例句：

• There is a reach of grassland in the distance.远处是连绵一片的草原。
• The snowstorm swept the vast expanse of grassland.暴风雪袭击了辽阔的草原。

4 release   

vt.发布，发表，发行；释放，放开

参考例句：

• After my examination I had a feeling of release.考完试后我有如释重负之感。
• This medicine will give you release from pain.这药吃后会解除你的疼痛。

5 released   

v.释放( release的过去式和过去分词 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him. 事后才说他们本不应该释放他，这倒容易。

6 saving   

n.节省，节约；[pl.]储蓄金，存款

参考例句：

• Energy saving is term strategic policy of our country.节约能源是我国长期的战略国策。
• Old-fashioned housewives were usually very saving.旧时的家庭主妇通常都很节俭。

7 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

8 breeding   

n.繁殖

参考例句：

• the breeding of horses 马的饲养
• This area of the city has become a breeding ground for violent crime. 这个市区已成为暴力犯罪的滋生地。

9 bloom   

n.花，花期；vi.开花；容光焕发，显露出健康

参考例句：

• The park is a picture when flowers are in bloom.当鲜花盛开时，这个公园的景色美极了。
• The flowers in the garden are now in full bloom.花园里的花盛开。

10 plentiful   

adj.富裕的，丰富的

参考例句：

• Their family has a plentiful harvest this year.他们家今年又丰收了。
• Rainfall is plentiful in the area.这个地区雨量充足。

11 academy   

n.(高等)专科院校；学术社团，协会，研究院

参考例句：

• This is an academy of music.这是一所音乐专科学院。
• I visited Chinese Academy of Sciences yesterday.我昨天去访问了中国科学院。

12 species   

n.物种，种群

参考例句：

• Are we the only thinking species in the whole of creation?我们是万物中惟一有思想的物种吗？
• This species of bird now exists only in Africa.这种鸟现在只存在于非洲。

13 artificially   

adv.人工地；人为地；不自然地；做作地

参考例句：

• The cows are artificially inseminated . 这些母牛被人工授精。
• The prices of meals are often artificially inflated. 饭菜价格常常被人为地抬高。 来自《简明英汉词典》