用英语介绍一种濒临灭绝的动物

用英语介绍一种濒临灭绝的动物
用英语介绍一种濒临灭绝的动物

用英语介绍一种濒临灭绝的动物
Koalas
Koalas,an iconic symbol of Australia,face extinction as rapid urbanization along the eastern seaboard destroys their fragile habitat,environmental activists have warned.
The Australian Koala Foundation has written to the government urging it to declare the koala a vulnerable species after a survey of 1,000 koala habitats found 30 percent no longer had a koala in them and 60 percent had suffered widespread destruction.
"I truly believe that in my lifetime the koala will become extinct unless we do something," Deborah Tabarat,executive director of the foundation,told reporters.
Koalas are protected by law but the eucalyptus trees they call home and which provide their only source of food are not.
There are about 100,000 koalas in Australia,down from an estimated 7 million to 10 million at the time of white settlement in 1788.In the 1920s 3 million koalas were shot for their fur.
Tabarat said the major problem facing koalas was that the majority of Australia's 20 million people and the majority of the koala population both call Australia's eastern states home.
She said that with 80 percent of Australia's east coast temperate forests destroyed and continued rapid urbanization,koalas along the eastern seaboard could be extinct in 15 years.
"This animal is in serious trouble," said Tabarat.
"In 15 years you will not see a koala west of the divide," she said,referring to the Great Australian Divide,mountains that divide east coast Australia from its rural outback.
Wild koalas only exist in four of Australia's six states:Queensland,New South Wales,Victoria and South Australia.
The marsupial has no natural predator but has been in decline for decades due to urban sprawl and from car accidents and dog attacks.
More than 4,000 koalas are killed each year by dogs and cars,said the foundation on its Web site.
The most robust koala population on the Australian mainland exists in southeast Queensland and numbers about 10,000,but it too faces extinction in 15 years,said Tabarat.
Southeast Queensland is experiencing the most rapid population growth of any part of Australia.Over the past eight years 16,000 koalas in the area arrived dead or fatally injured in hospitals after accidents with cars or dog attacks and another 10,000 injured koalas probably died in the bush,said Tabarat.
环保主义者提出警告,东海岸的迅速城市化破坏了树袋熊脆弱的栖息环境,树袋熊——澳大利亚的象征——濒临灭绝.
在对1000处树袋熊栖息地进行调查后,澳大利亚树袋熊保护基金会写信给政府,迫切要求政府宣布将树袋熊列为濒危物种.该调查发现,有30%的栖息地中已经找不到一只树袋熊了,还有60%也已遭到大规模破坏.
基金会执行理事黛博拉·塔巴拉特告诉记者说：“我确信,如果我们再不采取措施的话,在我的有生之年,树袋熊将会灭绝.”
树袋熊是受法律保护的,但是桉树作为它们的家园,同时也是它们唯一的食物来源,却没有受到法律的保护.
澳大利亚现在约有十万只树袋熊,比起1788年白种人殖民地时期大大下降,当时估计有七百万到一千万.二十世纪二十年代,三百万只树袋熊因毛皮被射杀.
塔拉巴特说,目前树袋熊面临的主要问题是,澳大利亚两千万人口中的大部分和大多数的树袋熊都在澳大利亚东部地区安家落户.
她说,随着东海岸80%的温带森林遭到破坏,再加上持续而迅猛的城市化进程,生活在东部沿海的树袋熊可能会在今后15年内灭绝.
塔拉巴特说：“这种动物处境非常危险.”
她说：“15年后,在大分水岭以西,人们将再也见不到树袋熊.”大分水岭是指将澳大利亚东海岸和内地乡村分开的山脉.
野生树袋熊仅存于澳大利亚六个州中的四个,它们是昆士兰、新南威尔士、维多利亚和南澳大利亚.
这种有袋动物并没有自然天敌,但其数量在过去几十年间逐渐减少,主要原因是城市的扩张、车祸和狗的袭击.
树袋熊保护基金会在其网站上公布,每年死在车轮之下和被狗咬死的树袋熊超过4000只.
澳洲大陆上树袋熊种群最兴旺的地区是昆士兰州东南部,有大约一万只,但塔拉巴特说,这里的树袋熊也将在十五年内濒临灭绝.
她指出,昆士兰东南部现在是澳大利亚各地中人口增长最快的地区.在过去八年间,这里有一万六千只树袋熊在遇到车祸和被狗袭击后,送达医院时已经死亡或受致命伤,另外可能还有一万只树袋熊受伤后死在丛林之中.
urbanization:城市化
vulnerable species:濒危物种
eucalyptus trees:桉树
temperate forests:温带森林
marsupial:有袋动物

Many animal populations facing threats
A worldwide study has found that almost twenty-five percent of wild mammals are in danger of permanently disappearing. Scientific researchers considered all...

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Many animal populations facing threats
A worldwide study has found that almost twenty-five percent of wild mammals are in danger of permanently disappearing. Scientific researchers considered all known mammal populations. The researchers say permanent disappearance threatens at least one thousand one hundred forty-one species or groups of animals. Mammals are the closest relatives to human beings.
The researchers are blaming loss of habitat, or living space, and hunting for threatened land mammals. They say water mammals suffer more from pollution, being hit by ships and caught in fishing nets.
One thousand seven hundred experts worked on the study. They are from one hundred thirty countries. Their findings were reported at the World Conservation Conference of the International Union for Conservation of Nature in Barcelona, Spain.
The report was presented in connection with the Red List of Threatened Species. The World Conservation Conference announces the Red List each year. The list contains almost forty five thousand animals and plants. Of those, almost seventeen thousand, or about thirty eight percent, are threatened with extinction.
Some scientists say the report provides evidence that Earth's wildlife is going through widespread extinction. The last such period may have taken place millions of years ago, when dinosaurs became extinct.
Jan Schipper led the writing of the report. He directs the I.U.C.N.'s program that observes animal populations worldwide.
Mister Schipper says up to thirty six percent of mammals could be facing extinction. He says this is true because not much information exists about some species. At least seventy-six mammals have permanently disappeared since fifteen hundred.
The director general of the I.U.C.N., Julia Marton-Lefevre, says human activity could cause loss of hundreds of species. She says that is a frightening sign of what is happening to habitats. Still, the report said human efforts also could help save some species. Miz Marton-Lefevre is calling for action to make that happen.
For study purposes, the I.U.C.N. divides animals into groups. The scientists call animals that have disappeared, or almost disappeared, extinct or nearly extinct. A frog-like creature called Holdridge's toad was declared extinct. It lived only in Costa Rica.
Other divisions depend on the amount of threat the animals face. The animals in most danger are considered critically endangered.
For example, the Iberian lynx is called critically endangered. As few as eighty-four adult members of the large, cat-like animals remain alive.
The Red List identifies the second most threatened animals as endangered. The scientists named a Southeast Asian animal, the fishing cat, as among the endangered. Part of the fishing cat's wetland habitat no longer exists.
A new study suggests the last woolly mammoths in Siberia were native to North America. Scientists had believed these mammoths came from Europe or Asia.
The study involved genetic evidence from the remains of the ancient animal. Woolly Mammoths share an ancestor with modern-day elephants. The mammoth is recognizable for its long hair and large tusks.
Woolly mammoths disappeared thousands of years ago, after Earth's most recent ice age. But mammoths were able to survive for thousands of years. During this period, they slowly changed to live in extremely cold climates.
Scientists believe the ancestors of woolly mammoths came from Africa. As the African mammoths moved north to Eurasia, scientists believe, they grew long hair to protect them from the extreme cold of Siberia.
To better understand these animals, an international research team examined genetic material from more than one hundred woolly mammoth remains. The remains were found in North America, Europe and Asia. These fossils came from woolly mammoths that lived between forty-four thousand and eleven thousand years ago.
Hendrik Poinar is a molecular evolutionary geneticist at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. He and his team examined genetic material from fossilized teeth and pieces of bones from woolly mammoths. They also examined results of earlier woolly mammoth studies.
Until recently, many scientists believed that mammoths came from Europe and Asia because that is where the oldest fossils were found. Earlier studies of the mammoths involved only one continent at a time. The researchers discovered that mammals traveled back and forth several times between Eurasia and Alaska over thousands of years. The animals were able to travel on a land bridge that connected Siberia and Alaska during low sea levels.
The researchers discovered that the mammoths were divided in three major groups. One group lived mainly in Asia. Another group lived mainly in the Americas. And, a third group lived in both places. They believe the American mammoths traveled back across the Bering Strait and in time replaced the other populations of mammoths.
The researchers believe the animals moved the great distances in search of food. A report with their findings was published in Current Biology. Other researchers disputed the findings. They say the study is based on only limited information.

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The report was presented in connection with the Red List of Threatened Species. The World Conservation Conference announces the Red List each year. The list contains almost forty five thousand animals and plants. Of those, almost seventeen thousand, or about thirty eight percent, are threatened with extinction.

Rhinos (犀牛)
There are five species of rhinos - two African and three Asian. The African species are the white and black rhinos. Both species have two horns. Asian rhinos include the Indian and th...

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Rhinos (犀牛)
There are five species of rhinos - two African and three Asian. The African species are the white and black rhinos. Both species have two horns. Asian rhinos include the Indian and the Javan, each with one horn, and the Sumatran, which has two.
White rhino is the second largest land mammal next to the elephant. The five species range in weight from 750 pounds to 8,000 pounds and stand anywhere from four and a half to six feet tall.
Biologists estimate that wild rhinos live up to 35 years. In captivity, a rhino may live 40 years.
Rhinos are herbivores, meaning they eat only plants. White rhinos, with their square-shaped lips, are ideally suited to graze on grass. Other rhinos prefer to eat the foliage of trees or bushes.
As solitary creatures, both male and female rhinos establish territories. Males mark and defend their territories. Rhinos use their horns not only in battles for territory or females but also to defend themselves from lions, tigers and hyenas.
Rhinos rank among the most endangered species on Earth. Valued for their horns, they face a serious threat from poaching. Some cultures believe that the powdered rhino horn will cure everything from fever to food poisoning and will enhance sexual stamina.
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POPULATION:
Black Rhino (Diceros bicornis): 2,400
White Rhino (Ceratotherium simum): 7,500
Sumatran Rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis): 400
Javan Rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus): fewer than 100
Indian Rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis): more than 2,000
(kidsplanet)

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