VOA慢速英语--黄石公园已知最老的灰熊去世

Animal biologists in the U.S. state of Wyoming recently confirmed the death of the oldest-known grizzly¹ bear in Yellowstone National Park.

Grizzly is another name for the North American brown bear. This bear was 34 years old. Most male bears do not live that long. But he outlived the oldest-known female bears. He was known to park biologists as Grizzly 168.

He was first captured and given a tattoo² with his number in 1989. Officials made the decision to give the bear a lethal³ injection because of his poor health. The bear had lost a lot of weight and was killing⁴ young farm animals. Healthy male bears weigh about 200 kilograms. This bear only weighed 77 kilograms.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says healthy grizzly bears will sometimes chase and kill young animals for food. They also eat berries, roots, insects and fish. This old bear, however, was not able to eat much. He was so old that he had lost most of his teeth.

Recently, the bear would attack young cows. The bear would crush them with his jaws⁵ but would not leave any bite marks.

Officials said it was a hard decision to kill the bear because there are so few. Hundreds of years ago, there were lots of grizzly bears in North America. But as land was developed, many bears were killed.

The Fish and Wildlife Service declared them threatened in 1975 when there were very few known bears in the United States. Most of them were in Alaska. Now they are protected and the population is increasing. There are still, however, only a little more than 1,000 grizzly bears in the U.S. outside of Alaska.

Grizzly 168 leaves an important legacy⁶. He did his part to help the population of bears recover. In his lifetime, researchers estimate he fathered at least three groups of baby bears.

Words in This Story

tattoo- n. a picture, word, etc., that is drawn⁷ on a person's skin by using a needle and ink

lethal- adj. causing or able to cause death

jaws- n. either one of the two bones of the face where teeth grow

legacy- n. something (such as property or money) that is received from someone who has died

1 grizzly   

adj.略为灰色的，呈灰色的；n.灰色大熊

参考例句：

• This grizzly liked people.这只灰熊却喜欢人。
• Grizzly bears are not generally social creatures.一般说来，灰熊不是社交型动物。

2 tattoo   

n.纹身，(皮肤上的)刺花纹；vt.刺花纹于

参考例句：

• I've decided to get my tattoo removed.我已经决定去掉我身上的纹身。
• He had a tattoo on the back of his hand.他手背上刺有花纹。

3 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

4 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

5 jaws   

n.口部；嘴

参考例句：

• The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。
• The scored jaws of a vise help it bite the work. 台钳上有刻痕的虎钳牙帮助它紧咬住工件。

6 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

7 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。