VOA慢速英语:大象和河马袭击喀麦隆的村庄

大象和河马袭击喀麦隆的村庄

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.

在喀麦隆北部地区，有些容易袭击村民的大型动物。成千上百头大象和河马对当地的农田和村庄造成严重损害。这些伤害发生在过去的三个月里。

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.

喀麦隆政府称大象和河马致人死亡的案例有好几起了。但是官员和野生动物阻止杀死这些动物，因为他们都是受保护的族群。

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村庄的乐都·艾哈迈说，因为这些动物的袭击，他的作物已经损失很多。大象和河马已经毁坏了他的高粱和洋葱，而且还在继续攻击村庄的人们。他说每天，在他们生活的区域周围，大象至少会造成五个村庄的财产损失。

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

动物离开拥挤的4000公顷的卡尔富野生动物公园去寻找更多的食物。

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.

尼克温蒂· 西蒙多是这一地区最高行政长官。他说人口的持续增长导致公园变成了农田和村庄，这也就意味着自然资源的减少。

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.

西蒙多说来自公园附近的歌尔湖的大象和河马已经杀死好多人，他说野生动物部门的官员已经杀死3头袭击村民的河马。他呼吁不要杀死动物，如果村民能够帮助保护这些动物的话，他们能够享受巨大的社会经济利益。

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.

亚历山大·布莱是世界自然基金会的一员，他说过去十年，雨林中大象的数量已经减少了60%，人们必须认识到一点：如果不停止杀戮大象。那未来10到20年就不会在森林中看到这种族群了。

"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."

“喀麦隆和更广阔的刚果盆地是世界上自然资源的宝藏。这一地区拥有世界上第二大雨林，我们正在失去这些大型哺乳动物，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·科克是非政府组织Trade Response Assessment and Priority Setting的一员，他不认为国际组织只保护动物而忽视人们需求。

"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."

“你知道人们对于机构、组织甚至一些政府机构对动物比对人更感兴趣的传言，总会有一些误解。当然不是这样，我们在谈论全球的资源，也许在未来20年，在喀麦隆就没有大象了。到那时我们应该怎么做呢?黑犀牛几乎灭绝。这才是我们要谈论的问题，如果不采取什么行动的话，我们会丧失我们的资源。”

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.

野生动植物小组已经督促喀麦隆发布一道政策：不要猎杀动物，保护他们免于从地球上消失。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·爱德文·肯泽卡从麦卡隆雅温得发回报道，杰瑞·瓦特森为美国之音慢速英语选取此条新闻，乔治·格鲁编辑。