2023年03月08日 VOA慢速英语：哥伦比亚提议向印度、墨西哥运送入侵的河马

Colombia is proposing to send at least 70 hippopotamuses to India and Mexico as part of a plan to control the hippo population.
作为控制河马数量计划的一部分，哥伦比亚提议向印度和墨西哥派遣至少 70 只河马。
 
The hippos live near the former farm of the crime group leader Pablo Escobar, who died in 1993. He had illegally imported four hippos from Africa in the 1980s. The animals mated and their numbers increased.
这些河马住在犯罪集团头目巴勃罗·埃斯科瓦尔 (Pablo Escobar) 的前农场附近，后者于 1993 年去世。他在 1980 年代从非洲非法进口了四只河马。动物交配，数量增加。
 
The hippos are territorial in behavior and weigh up to three tons. They have spread far beyond the Hacienda Napoles property, which is about 200 kilometers from Bogota along the Magdalena River. Environmental officials estimate there are about 130 hippos in the area in Antioquia province. The experts said the hippo population there could reach 400 in eight years.
河马的行为具有领地意识，体重可达三吨。它们的分布范围远远超出了那不勒斯庄园，该庄园距离马格达莱纳河沿岸的波哥大约 200 公里。环境官员估计安蒂奥基亚省该地区大约有 130 头河马。专家说，那里的河马数量在八年内可能会达到 400 头。
 
Escobar's Hacienda Napoles and the hippos have become a tourist attraction in the years since Escobar was killed by police.
埃斯科瓦尔的庄园那不勒斯和河马在埃斯科瓦尔被警察杀害后的几年里已成为旅游胜地。
 
Scientists warn the hippos do not have a natural predator in Colombia. The animals also could be a problem for biodiversity as the waste they produce changes the composition of the rivers. The environmental changes could threaten native animals including manatees and capybaras. Last year, Colombia's government declared the hippos a harmful invasive species.
科学家警告说，河马在哥伦比亚没有天敌。这些动物也可能成为生物多样性的问题，因为它们产生的废物会改变河流的成分。环境变化可能威胁到本地动物，包括海牛和水豚。去年，哥伦比亚政府宣布河马为有害入侵物种。
 
The plan to take the animals to India and Mexico has been forming for more than a year, said Lina Marcela de los Ríos Morales, director of animal protection and welfare at Antioquia's environment ministry.
安蒂奥基亚省环境部动物保护和福利部主任莉娜·马塞拉·德洛斯·里奥斯·莫拉莱斯说，将这些动物带到印度和墨西哥的计划已经酝酿了一年多。
 
Animal caretakers would use food to trick the hippos into getting into large, iron containers. Then, trucks would transport the animals to the international airport in the city of Rionegro, 150 kilometers away. From there, the hippos would be flown to India and Mexico, where there are animal shelters and zoos to house the animals.
动物饲养员会用食物诱使河马进入大铁容器。然后，卡车将把这些动物运送到 150 公里外的里奥内格罗市国际机场。从那里，河马将被空运到印度和墨西哥，那里有动物收容所和动物园来安置动物。
 
"It is possible to do, we already have experience relocating hippos in zoos nationwide," said David Echeverri López, a spokesman for Cornare, the local environmental agency that would oversee the operation.
“这是可能的，我们已经在全国范围内的动物园中迁移过河马，”将负责监督该行动的当地环境机构 Cornare 的发言人戴维·埃切维里·洛佩斯 (David Echeverri López) 说。
 
The plan is to send 60 hippos to the Greens Zoological Rescue & Rehabilitation Kingdom in Gujarat, India. De los Ríos Morales said the center would pay for the cost of the containers and airlift. Another 10 hippos would go to zoos and protected areas in Mexico such as the Ostok Sanctuary, in Sinaloa state.
该计划是将 60 只河马送到印度古吉拉特邦的 Greens Zoological Rescue & Rehabilitation Kingdom。De los Ríos Morales 表示，该中心将支付集装箱和空运的费用。另外 10 只河马将前往墨西哥的动物园和保护区，例如锡那罗亚州的 Ostok 保护区。
 
The plan aims to catch the hippos living in the rivers surrounding the Hacienda Napoles property. The ones on the property are not a concern. Officials said those hippos are in a controlled environment and do not threaten the local environment.
该计划旨在捕捉生活在 Hacienda Napoles 地产周围河流中的河马。财产上的那些不是问题。官员们表示，这些河马处于受控环境中，不会对当地环境造成威胁。
 
Ecuador, the Philippines and Botswana have also expressed their willingness to take the Colombian hippos, the Antioquia Governor's Office says.
安蒂奥基亚州长办公室表示，厄瓜多尔、菲律宾和博茨瓦纳也表示愿意接收哥伦比亚河马。