VOA慢速英語:大象和河馬襲擊喀麥隆的村莊

大象和河馬襲擊喀麥隆的村莊

Some of the world's biggest animals are harming villagers in far north Cameroon. The people say hundreds of elephants and hippopotamuses have caused major damage to farms and destroyed their villages. They say all this took place during the past three months.

在喀麥隆北部地區(qū)，有些容易襲擊村民的大型動(dòng)物。成千上百頭大象和河馬對(duì)當(dāng)?shù)氐霓r(nóng)田和村莊造成嚴(yán)重?fù)p害。這些傷害發(fā)生在過去的三個(gè)月里。

Cameroon's government says the elephants and hippopotamuses have killed several people. But officials and wildlife organizations warn against killing the animals. Both are protected species.

喀麥隆政府稱大象和河馬致人死亡的案例有好幾起了。但是官員和野生動(dòng)物阻止殺死這些動(dòng)物，因?yàn)樗麄兌际鞘鼙Ｗo(hù)的族群。

Ledou Ahmadou of Bougay Village says he has lost all of his crops to the animals. He says the elephants and hippos have destroyed all his sorghum and onions, and continue to attack people in their villages. And he says the elephants are destroying property in at least five villages in his area every day.

Bougay村莊的樂都·艾哈邁說，因?yàn)檫@些動(dòng)物的襲擊，他的作物已經(jīng)損失很多。大象和河馬已經(jīng)毀壞了他的高粱和洋蔥，而且還在繼續(xù)攻擊村莊的人們。他說每天，在他們生活的區(qū)域周圍，大象至少會(huì)造成五個(gè)村莊的財(cái)產(chǎn)損失。

The animals are leaving the overcrowded 4,000 hectares of Kalfou Wildlife Park for areas with more food.

動(dòng)物離開擁擠的4000公頃的卡爾富野生動(dòng)物公園去尋找更多的食物。

Nkwenti Simon Doh is the most senior administrative official in the area. He says increased human population is responsible for changing parts of the park to farms and villages. That means reduced natural resources.

尼克溫蒂· 西蒙多是這一地區(qū)最高行政長(zhǎng)官。他說人口的持續(xù)增長(zhǎng)導(dǎo)致公園變成了農(nóng)田和村莊，這也就意味著自然資源的減少。

Mr. Doh says the elephants and hippos from Gere Lake, near the park, have already killed several people. He says wildlife officials have killed three hippos that carried out raids. He says he called on villagers not to kill the animals. He notes they will enjoy huge social and economic benefits if they help protect the enormous animals.

西蒙多說來自公園附近的歌爾湖的大象和河馬已經(jīng)殺死好多人，他說野生動(dòng)物部門的官員已經(jīng)殺死3頭襲擊村民的河馬。他呼吁不要?dú)⑺绖?dòng)物，如果村民能夠幫助保護(hù)這些動(dòng)物的話，他們能夠享受巨大的社會(huì)經(jīng)濟(jì)利益。

Alexandre Brecher is with the World Wildlife Fund for Nature. He says the elephant population in the rainforest has decreased by 60 percent in the past 10 years. He says people must understand that if they do not stop killing the elephants, there might not be wildlife in the forest in 10 or 20 years.

亞歷山大·布萊是世界自然基金會(huì)的一員，他說過去十年，雨林中大象的數(shù)量已經(jīng)減少了60%，人們必須認(rèn)識(shí)到一點(diǎn)：如果不停止殺戮大象。那未來10到20年就不會(huì)在森林中看到這種族群了。

"Cameroon and the wider Congo basin is one of the world's natural treasures. It is the second largest rain forest in the world and we are losing our big mammals, our great emblematic mammals like the elephants."

“喀麥隆和更廣闊的剛果盆地是世界上自然資源的寶藏。這一地區(qū)擁有世界上第二大雨林，我們正在失去這些大型哺乳動(dòng)物，比如：大象。”

Sone Koke is with Trade Response Assessment and Priority Setting, a non-governmental organization. He rejects claims that international organizations prefer protecting animals to attending to the needs of the people.

索恩·科克是非政府組織Trade Response Assessment and Priority Setting的一員，他不認(rèn)為國際組織只保護(hù)動(dòng)物而忽視人們需求。

"Well, you know that here is always this misconception that structures, organizations or even some government agencies are more interested in animals than people. Of course not! We are talking of global resources. Maybe in the next 20 years we will not have elephants in Cameroon. So how are we going to act on that? Black rhinos are almost extinct. So that is what we are talking about. If nothing is being done, we are going to lose all our resources."

“你知道人們對(duì)于機(jī)構(gòu)、組織甚至一些政府機(jī)構(gòu)對(duì)動(dòng)物比對(duì)人更感興趣的傳言，總會(huì)有一些誤解。當(dāng)然不是這樣，我們?cè)谡務(wù)撊虻馁Y源，也許在未來20年，在喀麥隆就沒有大象了。到那時(shí)我們應(yīng)該怎么做呢?黑犀牛幾乎滅絕。這才是我們要談?wù)摰膯栴}，如果不采取什么行動(dòng)的話，我們會(huì)喪失我們的資源。”

Wildlife groups have been urging Cameroon to declare a policy of absolutely no killing of animals to prevent their possible disappearance from Earth. I'm Jeri Watson.

野生動(dòng)植物小組已經(jīng)督促喀麥隆發(fā)布一道政策：不要獵殺動(dòng)物，保護(hù)他們免于從地球上消失。我是杰瑞·瓦特森。

Reporter Moki Edwin Kindzeka prepared this story from Yaounde, Cameroon. Jeri Watson adapted it for VOA Learning English. The editor was George Grow.

莫吉·愛德文·肯澤卡從麥卡隆雅溫得發(fā)回報(bào)道，杰瑞·瓦特森為美國之音慢速英語選取此條新聞，喬治·格魯編輯。