VOA常速英语2015--科学家们尝试不同的方式拯救犀牛

Scientists Test Different Ways for Saving Rhinos² 科学家们尝试不同的方式拯救犀牛

The African rhino¹ is a seriously endangered species and one subspecies, the northern white rhinoceros³, is on the brink⁴ of extinction⁵. After the recent death of a female, only four northern white rhinos are still alive. Only one of them is a male. Scientists are using two distinct strategies to save them.

The biggest threat to rhinos are poachers who kill them for their horns. In spite of a lack of scientific proof, many in Vietnam and China believe that pills made of ground rhino horns can cure various diseases and disorders⁶.

对犀牛而言最大的威胁是偷猎者为了它们的角而将其置于死地。尽管缺乏科学证据支持,但越南及中国的许多人相信犀牛角粉制成的药丸可以治愈各种疾病及身心机能的失调症状。

Since 2008, poachers in South Africa have killed almost 3,000 rhinos. The International Union for Conservation of Nature warns that they may become extinct before 2026.

自2008年以来,南非的偷猎者已杀死近3000头犀牛。国际自然保护联盟警告称犀牛可能在2026年前就惨遭灭绝。

The northern white rhinoceros, which actually is grey, is extinct in the wild. Only four animals of this subspecies remain and all of them are held in captivity⁷ – three females and the only male, called Sudan.  

实际上是灰色的北白犀已经在野外灭绝。这种犀牛现存只有4头而且都已经被监管起来，3只母犀牛，而唯一的公犀牛名叫苏丹。

“If we lose him it will be a very big loss for the endangered species,” said Zachariah Mutahi, Sudan's caretaker.

“如果我们失去他, 对这种濒临灭绝的物种而言将是非常大的损失。”

Natural pregnancy⁸ and birth among the four are unlikely, so at Kenya’s Ol Pajeta Conservancy, scientists are trying to inseminate northern white rhino eggs in the lab and implant⁹ them in southern white rhino females.

这4头犀牛之间不太可能进行自然生育,因此在肯尼亚的奥尔帕吉塔保护中心,科学家们正试图在实验室通过体外授精的方式将北白犀卵子植入南方的雌性白犀牛中。

Ol Pajeta Conservancy CEO Richard Vigne said, “The initial approach will be to look at in-vitro fertilization — removal of eggs from three remaining females and mixing those eggs with sperm¹⁰ stored from northern white rhinos across the world — to create an embryo¹¹ which will then be implanted into a surrogate white rhino female to create a northern white rhino calf¹².”

Meanwhile, two U.S.-based scientists say they are using the latest biotechnology techniques to create artificial rhino horn — something that not only looks and feels like the real thing, but contains the same proteins.

与此同时,两名美国科学家表示他们正使用最新的生物技术创造人工犀牛角，不仅外观和感觉真实,而且也含有相同的蛋白质。

“We are not bio-identical yet though that is the goal,” said Matthew Markus, Pembient CEO.

“从生物学角度还没有达到完全一致，但这是我们的目标。”

They hope that poachers will find it cheaper and safer to resell the lab-grown horns to their Asian customers as authentic¹³, rather than to risk their lives or long prison sentences hunting for real rhinos.

他们希望偷猎者会发现将实验室培育出的犀牛角转售给他们的亚洲客户更便宜且更安全,而且不用冒着生命或长期监禁的危险猎杀真正的犀牛。

No matter how they test the substance, customers will not be able to tell the difference. Researchers say flooding the market with artificial horns may keep the animals with the real horns safe from poachers.

不管怎么测试,客户也都无法区分。研究人员说市场满是人工犀牛角的市场可能会使真正的犀牛免受偷猎者的猎杀。

1 rhino   

n.犀牛，钱, 现金

参考例句：

• The rhino charged headlong towards us.犀牛急速地向我们冲来。
• They have driven the rhino to the edge of extinction.他们已经令犀牛濒临灭绝。

2 rhinos   

n.犀牛（rhino的复数形式）

参考例句：

• There are many reports of people taming and even training Indian rhinos. 有许多关于人们驯养甚至训练印度犀牛的记载。 来自辞典例句
• The rhinos had fed during the night in the rice fields of these villagers. 犀牛夜里在这些村民的庄稼地里也已吃饱了。 来自辞典例句

3 rhinoceros   

n.犀牛

参考例句：

• The rhinoceros has one horn on its nose.犀牛鼻子上有一个角。
• The body of the rhinoceros likes a cattle and the head likes a triangle.犀牛的形体像牛，头呈三角形。

4 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

5 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。

6 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 captivity   

n.囚禁；被俘；束缚

参考例句：

• A zoo is a place where live animals are kept in captivity for the public to see.动物园是圈养动物以供公众观看的场所。
• He was held in captivity for three years.他被囚禁叁年。

8 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

9 implant   

vt.注入，植入，灌输

参考例句：

• A good teacher should implant high ideals in children.好教师应该把高尚理想灌输给孩子们。
• The operation to implant the artificial heart took two hours.人工心脏植入手术花费了两小时。

10 sperm   

n.精子，精液

参考例句：

• Only one sperm fertilises an egg.只有一个精子使卵子受精。
• In human reproduction,one female egg is usually fertilized by one sperm.在人体生殖过程中，一个精子使一个卵子受精。

11 embryo   

n.胚胎，萌芽的事物

参考例句：

• They are engaging in an embryo research.他们正在进行一项胚胎研究。
• The project was barely in embryo.该计划只是个雏形。

12 calf   

n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮

参考例句：

• The cow slinked its calf.那头母牛早产了一头小牛犊。
• The calf blared for its mother.牛犊哞哞地高声叫喊找妈妈。

13 authentic   

a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的

参考例句：

• This is an authentic news report. We can depend on it. 这是篇可靠的新闻报道, 我们相信它。
• Autumn is also the authentic season of renewal. 秋天才是真正的除旧布新的季节。