VOA常速英语听力2013年01月（WORD文本）：POACHERS-KILL.doc

1、Joe DeCapuaJanuary 08, 2013A manhunt has been underway since the weekend in Kenya for a gang of poachers that killed a family of elephants.自上周末肯尼亚一群偷猎者杀死一个大象家庭以来，一场搜捕行动已经在进行当中。The Wildlife Service says 12 of the animals were slaughtered.野生动物服务机构称12只动物被屠杀。Poaching is on the rise across Africa as dema

2、nd grows in Asia for ivory and rhino horns.当亚洲对于象牙和犀牛角需求增加时非洲偷猎势头也呈上升趋势。Kenya Wildlife Service spokesman Paul Mbugua said at least 10 poachers entered the northern side of Tsavo East National Park.肯尼亚野生动物服务机构发言人保罗姆博加称至少10名偷猎者进入特斯拉沃东国家公园北部。Its a remote area with little infrastructure.这是一个基础设施缺乏的偏远地区。

3、He said the elephants were killed Saturday.他表示大象在星期六被杀害。“We learned about the incident about an hour or so later.“大约一个小时以后我们了解了这一事件。We mobilized our aircraft and we covered the area, located the carcasses.而后我们调动我们的飞机并覆盖这一区域,最终找到了尸体。Realized they had already taken off with the tusks.意识到他们的象牙已经被偷猎者盗取后

4、。And so we deployed our men in the general area and we have been combing the area ever since.我们在一般区域部署我们的人而且从这以后开始梳理这一区域。We are confident they are still hold up within that area becausefrom the time they killed to the time when we landed in the general areathey could not have left the park,” he said

5、.我们有信心他们仍然留在那个地区，因为从大象死亡的时间到我们出现在这一区域的时间来看，他们不可能离开公园。”他说道。Tracking is being hampered somewhat by occasional heavy rainfall.而这次搜捕被一些偶尔的强降雨阻碍。“But we are still following and we are confident we are going to get to them,” he said.“但是我们目前仍然跟踪而且我们有信心将会抓到他们,”他说道。The Wildlife Service is also confident it k

6、nows how many poachers are involved.野生动物服务机构对于其中涉及多少名偷猎者也有信心。“The area is sandy and you can actually count footprints of people walking away.“该地区是沙地,而你实际上可以计算人们走过后的脚樱And of course the footprints are of different sizes, so it was easy to tell.而且脚印当然有大小不同之分,所以很容易告诉人们真相。Actually, the number was perhaps

7、 more than 10.实际上,这个数字可能多于10。There were not less than 10,” he said.不会少于10。”他说道。Mbugua said poaching used to occur only in certain corners of Kenya.姆博加表示偷猎曾经只在肯尼亚的某些地区出现。Now its happening across the country.但现在全国各地都有发生。“With the lucrative business that is poachingthat is ivory tradewe are having lots

8、 and lots of groups of poachers.“因为偷猎所带来的象牙贸易利润丰厚，所以我们面对的是很多很多的偷猎者组织。At any one time, we are aware of various groups of poachers trying to access various parts of the parks and various areas where we have elephants.在任何时候,我们都要提防各种偷猎者团体试图接近我们有大象的公园各个部分及不同的地区。So, we have an uphill task in containing th

9、ese groups.所以,针对这些团体我们的任务十分艰巨。We are not dealing with one particular group.而于我们打交道的不是一个特殊群体。There are many,” he said.有很多这样的组织。”他说道。In the past, much of the poaching in Kenya was done by Somali militias.在过去,在肯尼亚的大部分偷猎者是索马里民兵。Mbugua said the proliferation of firearms has only made matters worse.姆博加表示武

10、器扩散只会使事情变得更为糟糕。He said anti-poaching operations should be increased; and parliament needs to pass proposed legislation handing down tough penalties for poaching.他表示反偷猎行动应该增加;而议会需要通过对付偷猎更强硬惩罚的立法提议。Currently, wildlife crime, he says, is treated as a misdemeanor with small fines.他表示目前,野生动物犯罪只是作为一项轻罪处理，

11、只需交小额罚款即可了事。“Everybody realizes the importance of wildlife as an economic factor.“每个人都应意识到野生动物作为经济因素的重要性。Tourism depends on wildlife and everybody knows that tourism is one of the industries that brings in a lot of foreign exchange to the country,” he said.旅游依赖野生动物,而大家都知道旅游是为这个国家带来了大量的外汇的其中产业之一。”他说道

12、。Ivory and rhino horns sell for very high prices in Asia.在亚洲象牙和犀牛角被卖到非常高的价格。Theyre used in traditional medicines and potions.他们用于传统药物和药水。The Kenya Wildlife Service is calling on China, Vietnam and other Asian countries to do more to end the poaching trade.肯尼亚野生动物服务机构呼吁中国，越南和亚洲其他国家更加努力制止偷猎贸易。It said

13、raising awareness would help telling people that for every piece of ivory they buy an elephant has died.它表示提高意识会帮助告诉人们他们每一块象牙都表示一头大象的死亡。Mbugua said, “Citizens of the world have a duty of conserving these graceful animals for the benefit of current and future generations.”姆博加称“世界公民有责任保护这些优雅的动物,造福当前和未来的几代人。”The World Wildlife Fund estimates that in 2011, more than 23 metric tons of ivory were seized by authorities.世界野生动物基金会估计在2011年有关当局称重的象牙超过23吨。That figure, it said, represents 2,500 dead elephants.这个数字代表着2500头死去的大象。