by David George Gordon

翻譯：法比仔

熊貓寶寶帶來(lái)的曙光

Giant Panda Cubs Give Hope to an Endangered Species

by David George Gordon

翻譯：法比仔

當(dāng)下，人類一直在努力地保護(hù)我們可愛(ài)的熊貓。而熊貓寶寶的相繼誕生，也為原本瀕危的熊貓物種帶來(lái)了新的曙光。

Pandas at Risk

Scientists1)estimatethat fewer than 2,000 giant pandas live in the mountains ofcentral China.About another 200 giant pandas live in zoos, mostly in China.Giant pandas are among the rarest of the world’s2)living3)mammals.

Raising Babies

“Every4)newbornpanda is important,” says the leader of the giant panda research team at the San Diego Zoo.“After they have grown to5)adulthood, some of the bears could be released into the6)mountainouswilds,” he says.And those that7)mateandgive birth tomore cubs will help rebuild China’s small population of wild pandas.

“Breeding giant pandas is no easy thing,” says the leader.Female giant pandas can produce cubs only once every two years.In the wild, an adult female may successfully raise fve to eight cubs in her lifetime.

詞組加油站

central China華中地區(qū)

give birth to生產(chǎn)，生育

conservation group保護(hù)組織

Giant pandas once wandered across China to its eastern coast.But as more people made their homes and began to farm the land, the pandas lost a lot of their habitat and most of their food.

Hope for the Future

Today, theconservation groups, scientists, zoo workers and the Chinese government work together to protect the pandas’ habitat.Many think about creating bamboo8)corridors—one hope for saving the giant panda from extinction.These corridors would create one larger habitat for all wild pandas.

瀕危的熊貓們

據(jù)科學(xué)家們統(tǒng)計(jì)，生活在華中地區(qū)深山里頭的大熊貓不超過(guò)2000只，另外約有200只大熊貓生活在動(dòng)物園里，且主要分布在中國(guó)。大熊貓是世界上現(xiàn)存的最為珍稀的哺乳類動(dòng)物之一。

飼養(yǎng)熊貓寶寶

“我們重視每一只新生的熊貓寶寶，”美國(guó)圣地亞哥動(dòng)物園大熊貓研究團(tuán)隊(duì)的領(lǐng)隊(duì)說(shuō)?！霸谶@些熊貓寶寶長(zhǎng)大以后，其中的一些會(huì)回歸山林野外生活，”他說(shuō)道。另外，一些熊貓會(huì)繼續(xù)交配，生育出更多的熊貓寶寶，這將有助于中國(guó)野生大熊貓種群的數(shù)量回升。

“繁殖大熊貓絕非易事，”領(lǐng)隊(duì)說(shuō)。雌性大熊貓每?jī)赡瓴欧毖芤淮?。若是在野外，一只成年的雌性熊貓?jiān)谄湟簧写蟾拍艹晒︷B(yǎng)育五到八只熊貓寶寶。

大熊貓的足跡曾經(jīng)一路穿越中國(guó)，直至東部的沿海地區(qū)?？墒?，由于越來(lái)越多的人開(kāi)始扎根定居、開(kāi)荒耕地，熊貓失去了它們的許多棲息地和大部分食物。

對(duì)未來(lái)的憧憬

如今，相關(guān)的保護(hù)組織、科學(xué)家、動(dòng)物園里的員工，以及中國(guó)政府，正致力于保護(hù)大熊貓的棲息地。許多人考慮建造竹林地帶，以保護(hù)大熊貓免于滅絕。這些地帶能為所有的野生熊貓?zhí)峁┮黄蟮臈?chǎng)所。

1 ) estimate [?est?me?t] v.估計(jì)，判斷

2 ) living [?l?v??] adj.活著的，現(xiàn)存的

3 ) mammal [?m?ml] n.哺乳動(dòng)物

4 ) newborn [nju??b??n] adj.新生的，初生的

5 ) adulthood [??d?lth?d] n.成年

6 ) mountainous [?ma?nt?n?s] adj.多山的

7 ) mate [me?t] v.交配

8 ) corridor [?k?r?d??] n.走廊地帶