Level 3 Reading 3A

Ch.5

第5章

Reading 3A RACING TO RESCUE KOALAS It's two in the morning, and a koala is caught on a fence, like a prisoner trying to escape. A phone rings in the home of Megan Aitken in a suburb of Brisbane, on the east coast of Australia. Aitken runs a volunteer organization devoted to rescuing wild koalas. Before she is told the location, she has already thrown her clothes over her pajamas, ready to head out. When Aitken arrives on the scene, two other volunteers—Jane Davies and Sandra Peachey—are already there. They discover that the koala's fur is caught in the barbed wire. Nearby, they notice tall eucalyptus trees. "He was obviously trying to get to the trees on the other side," Aitken says. Aitken puts on heavy gloves. Despite their cute appearance, koalas can be ferocious when resisting capture. If they feel threatened, they bite, and Aitken has the scars to prove it. The volunteers get to work. Davies throws a blanket over the animal, while Peachey opens the lid of a cage. Aitken firmly grasps the koala through the blanket, frees it from the fence, and drops it in the cage. Next, they check the animal's physical condition. If the koala is sick or injured, it may need to be taken to an animal hospital. If the koala is healthy—like this one—it is normally released where it is found. Koalas tend to live in a small area, and often eat from the same trees over and over. Right now, however, Aitken and the rescued koala are in a suburb with almost no trees. "This is the whole problem," Aitken says. "There are so few places left for the koala." In the end, Aitken takes the animal to a small park nearby and releases him. "Good luck, little one," she says. Koalas at Risk "Koalas are getting caught in fences and dying," explains Deidré de Villiers, a koala researcher in Queensland, Australia. Others are being killed by dogs or struck by vehicles, she says. Some even die "simply because a homeowner cut down several eucalyptus trees in his backyard." For 15 years, de Villiers has been studying koalas and the reasons for their disappearance. She is also working on ways to make suburban areas more koala-friendly. De Villiers believes that koalas and humans can live together, if certain changes are made. She recommends reducing speed limits on streets and creating more green areas for koalas to live in. Even more important is the need to preserve eucalyptus trees.

阅读3A 竞相营救考拉 现在是凌晨两点，一只考拉被困在栅栏上，就像一个试图逃跑的囚犯。 澳大利亚东海岸布里斯班郊区梅根·艾特肯家中的电话响了。 艾特肯经营着一个致力于拯救野生考拉的志愿者组织。 在得知地点之前，她已经把衣服披在睡衣上，准备出门。 当艾特肯到达现场时，另外两名志愿者——简·戴维斯和桑德拉·皮奇——已经在那里了。 他们发现考拉的皮毛被铁丝网缠住了。 在附近，他们注意到高大的桉树。 艾特肯说：“他显然是想去另一边的树上。”。 艾特肯戴上厚手套。 尽管考拉的外表很可爱，但在拒捕时却很凶猛。 如果它们感到受到威胁，就会咬人，艾特肯身上有伤疤可以证明这一点。 志愿者们开始工作。 戴维斯把毯子盖在动物身上，而皮奇打开笼子的盖子。 艾特肯透过毯子紧紧抓住考拉，把它从栅栏里放出来，然后把它扔进笼子里。 接下来，他们检查动物的身体状况。 如果考拉生病或受伤，可能需要将其送往动物医院。 如果考拉是健康的，就像这只一样，它通常会被释放到发现它的地方。 考拉往往生活在一个小区域，经常一遍又一遍地吃同一棵树上的东西。 然而，现在艾特肯和获救的考拉在一个几乎没有树木的郊区。 艾特肯说：“这就是整个问题。”。“留给考拉的地方太少了。” 最后，艾特肯把这只动物带到附近的一个小公园，放了它。 “祝你好运，小家伙，”她说。 考拉面临风险 澳大利亚昆士兰州的考拉研究员Deidréde Villiers解释说：“考拉被栅栏困住了，快死了。”。 她说，其他人被狗杀死或被车辆撞倒。 有些人甚至“仅仅因为房主在后院砍倒了几棵桉树”而死亡 15年来，de Villiers一直在研究考拉及其消失的原因。 她还在研究如何让郊区对考拉更友好。 De Villiers认为，如果做出某些改变，考拉和人类可以生活在一起。 她建议降低街道上的限速，并为考拉创造更多的绿地。 更重要的是需要保护桉树。

Even if these changes are made, koalas still have another problem. "Disease is a huge issue," explains veterinarian Jon Hanger. Hanger says that almost half of Queensland's female koalas are affected by a disease called chlamydiosis. Without treatment, the koalas are unable to reproduce. "Koala populations that used to be vibrant are becoming extinct," says Hanger. Once, there were millions of koalas in Australia; now, there are believed to be fewer than 80,000. A Friend to Koalas At her home near Brisbane, Deidré de Villiers is taking care of a female koala named Ruby. "Ruby still sleeps in the basket hugging her teddy bear," she says. "She was rescued from the jaws of a dog." Every two days, de Villiers collects eucalyptus leaves, the koala's primary food, from a nearby farm to feed Ruby. For 12 years, she has cared for more than 60 koalas. Later, de Villiers visits a forest near Brisbane to catch Tee Vee, a wild female koala. De Villiers has been following Tee Vee for over a year. Using special audio equipment, de Villiers walks and listens for a signal from the koala's radio collar. She eventually finds Tee Vee sitting on a tree branch 15 meters high. As de Villiers climbs up a ladder, Tee Vee starts moving down the tree. Then, suddenly, the koala jumps into the air and lands on the ground. She is quickly captured by de Villiers's team. Tee Vee is given medicine to relax her. Next, de Villiers measures the length of the koala's body and head. She also checks Tee Vee's teeth and the condition of her fur. "I think she has a baby," de Villiers says. She carefully opens the koala's pouch and takes out a 10-centimeter-long baby koala. De Villiers examines the baby for any problems. Then she puts it back in the mother's pouch. "As long as there are healthy babies," she says, "there's still hope." LOSING THEIR EUCALYPTUS Over two centuries ago, about ten million koalas lived in forests on the east coast of Australia. Eucalyptus leaves—their primary food source—were plentiful. By the start of this century, nearly two-thirds of the forests had been cleared, leaving fewer than 80,000 koalas left in the wild.

即使做出了这些改变，考拉仍然有另一个问题。 兽医乔恩·汉格解释说：“疾病是一个巨大的问题。”。 Hanger说，昆士兰几乎一半的雌性考拉都患有衣原体病。 如果不进行治疗，考拉就无法繁殖。 Hanger说：“曾经充满活力的考拉种群正在灭绝。”。 曾经，澳大利亚有数百万只考拉；现在，据信人数不到8万。 考拉的朋友 在布里斯班附近的家中，Deidréde Villiers正在照顾一只名叫Ruby的雌性考拉。 “露比仍然抱着她的泰迪熊睡在篮子里，”她说。 “她是从狗嘴里救出来的。” 每两天，de Villiers都会从附近的农场收集树袋熊的主要食物桉树叶来喂Ruby。 12年来，她照顾了60多只考拉。 后来，de Villiers参观了布里斯班附近的一片森林，捕捉了一只野生雌性考拉Tee Vee。 De Villiers已经关注Tee Vee一年多了。 de Villiers使用特殊的音频设备行走并收听考拉无线电项圈发出的信号。 她最终发现Tee Vee坐在15米高的树枝上。 当de Villiers爬上梯子时，Tee-Vee开始沿着树往下走。 然后，突然，考拉跳到空中，落在地上。 她很快被德维利尔斯的团队抓获。 Tee Vee正在服用药物以放松身心。 接下来，de Villiers测量了考拉身体和头部的长度。 她还检查了Tee-Vee的牙齿和皮毛状况。 德维利尔斯说：“我想她有个孩子了。”。 她小心翼翼地打开考拉的育儿袋，拿出一只10厘米长的小考拉。 德维利尔斯检查婴儿是否有任何问题。 然后她把它放回妈妈的袋子里。 “只要有健康的婴儿，”她说，“就还有希望。” 失去桉树 两个多世纪前，大约有1000万只考拉生活在澳大利亚东海岸的森林里。 桉树叶——它们的主要食物来源——很丰富。 到本世纪初，近三分之二的森林已被砍伐， 只剩下不到8万只考拉留在野外。

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