THE symbol of the World Wide Fund for Nature is a giant panda. The panda’s black-and-white pelage certainly makes for a striking logo. But, though pandas are an endangered species, the cause of their endangerment is depressingly quotidian: a loss of habitat as Earth’s human population increases. A better icon might be an elephant, particularly an African elephant, for elephants are not mere collateral damage in humanity’s relentless expansion. Often, rather, they are deliberate targets, shot by poachers, who want their ivory; by farmers, because of the damage they do to crops; and by cattle herders, who see them as competitors for forage.
世界自然基金会的标志是一只大熊猫。大熊猫黑白相间的毛发无疑是醒目的标志。但是，尽管熊猫是濒危物种，它们濒危的原因竟然是令人郁闷的日常生活：随着人口数量的增加，栖息地的减少。更好的标志可能是一头大象：尤其是非洲象，因为大象可能不仅仅是人类的不断扩张所带来的附属伤害。而且通常，它们是被蓄意射击的目标，偷猎者想要它们的象牙；农民们，因为它们对庄稼所造成的损害；放牧人，他们把它们当做饲料的竞争对手。
In August 2016 the result of the Great Elephant Census, the most extensive count of a wild species ever attempted, suggested that about 350,000 African savannah elephants remain alive. This is down by 140,000 since 2007. The census, conducted by a team led by Mike Chase, an ecologist based in Botswana, and paid for by Paul Allen, one of the founders of Microsoft, undertook almost 500,000km of aerial surveys to come to its conclusion—though the team were unable to include forest elephants, a smaller, more reclusive type that live in west and central Africa, and which many biologists think a separate species.
在2016年8月，大象普查结果显示大约350000头非洲草原大象仍然活着。自2007年以来下降了140000。这次普查，由一个Mike chase领导的队伍、博茨瓦纳的生态学家、微软的创始人之一保罗艾伦实施，一共进行了大约500000千米的空中调查才得出的结论。但是团队无法把森林象列为研究的一部分。森林象是一种比较小，更封闭的物种，它们住在西部和中非，许多生物学家把森林象认定是一种单独的物种。
That most of the decline has been brought about by poaching is scarcely in doubt. Seizures of smuggled ivory, and the size of the carved-ivory market compared with the small amount of legal ivory available, confirm it. But habitat loss is important, too—and not just the conversion of bush into farmland. Roads, railways and fences, built as Africa develops, stop elephants moving around. And an elephant needs a lot of room. According to George Wittemyer of Save the Elephants (STE), a Kenyan research-and-conservation charity, an average elephant living in and around Samburu National Reserve, in northern Kenya, ranges over 1,500 square kilometres during the course of a year, and may travel as much as 60km a day.
大部分下降事由偷猎引起的，这一点是毫无疑问的。走私象牙的缴获和大规模的象牙雕刻市场，与小规模的合法的象牙交易相比，证明了这一点。但是栖息地的丧失也是很重要的。不仅是灌木到农田的转变，随着非洲的发展而建立的公路、铁路、和栅栏阻碍了大象们的迁徙。大象需要很大的空间。根据肯尼亚一个研究保护慈善机构《拯救大象》的乔治·维特耶尔说：“在肯尼亚背部的桑布鲁自然保护区，一头普通大象每年活动范围1500平方公里，每天迁徙到60km。
重点单词：
一、reclusive /rɪˈkluːsɪv/
ADJ A reclusive person or animal lives alone and deliberately avoids the company of others. 独处的; 隐居的
二、aerial /ˈɛərɪəl/ CET6 TEM4 ( aerials )
ADJ You talk about aerial attacks and aerial photographs to indicate that people or things on the ground are attacked or photographed by people in aeroplanes. 从空中的 (袭击等) [ADJ n]
例：
Weeks of aerial bombardment had destroyed factories and motorways.
数周的空袭已经摧毁了各工厂和公路。
N-COUNT An aerial is a device or a piece of wire that sends and receives television or radio signals and is usually attached to a radio, television, car, or building. 天线
三、forage /ˈfɒrɪdʒ/ TEM8 ( foraging, foraged, forages )
V-I If someone forages for something, they search for it in a busy way. 匆忙搜寻
例：
They were forced to forage for clothing and fuel.
他们被迫匆忙搜寻衣物和燃料。
V-I When animals forage, they search for food. (动物) 觅食
例：
We disturbed a wild boar that had been foraging by the roadside.
我们惊动了一只在路边觅食的野公猪。
四、deliberate CET4 ( deliberating, deliberated, deliberates )
形容词读作dɪˈlɪbərɪt。动词读作dɪˈlɪbəˌreɪt。
ADJ If you do something that is deliberate, you planned or decided to do it beforehand, and so it happens on purpose rather than by chance. 故意的
例：
Witnesses say the firing was deliberate and sustained.
目击者说这次射击是蓄意的，而且还持续了一段时间。
deliberately ADV 故意地
例：
It looks as if the blaze was started deliberately.
看来那场火是有人故意放的。
ADJ If a movement or action is deliberate, it is done slowly and carefully. 从容谨慎的
例：
...stepping with deliberate slowness up the steep paths.
…小心翼翼地缓步走上陡峭的小径。
deliberately ADV 从容谨慎地 [ADV after v]
例：
The Japanese have acted calmly and deliberately.
那些日本人表现得镇定且从容。
V-T/V-I If you deliberate, you think about something carefully, especially before making a very important decision. 仔细考虑
例：
She deliberated over the decision for a good few years before she finally made up her mind.
在她最终下定决心之前，她仔细考虑了这个决定多年。
五、striking /ˈstraɪkɪŋ/ CET4 TEM4
ADJ Something that is striking is very noticeable or unusual. 显著的; 不同寻常的
例：
The most striking feature of those statistics is the high proportion of suicides.
那些统计数据最显著的特征是高自杀率。
例：
He bears a striking resemblance to Lenin.
他与列宁有着不同寻常的相似之处。
strikingly ADV 显著地; 不同寻常地
例：
In one respect, however, the men really were strikingly similar.
然而，在一方面，这些男人的确惊人地相似。
例：
...a strikingly handsome man.
…一个异乎寻常地英俊的男人。
ADJ Someone who is striking is very attractive, in a noticeable way. 俊秀的
例：
She was a striking woman with long blonde hair.
她曾是一个留着金色长发的俊秀女子。
六、pelage /ˈpɛlɪdʒ/
N the coat of a mammal, consisting of hair, wool, fur, etc 皮毛
七、seizure /ˈsiːʒə/ CET6+ TEM4 ( seizures )
N-COUNT If someone has a seizure, they have a sudden violent attack of an illness, especially one that affects their heart or brain. (心脏病、脑部疾病等的) 突然发作
例：
...a mild cardiac seizure.
…一次轻度心脏病发作。
N-COUNT If there is a seizure of power or a seizure of an area of land, a group of people suddenly take control of the place, using force. 占领
例：
...the seizure of territory through force.
…对领土的武装占领。
N-COUNT When an organization such as the police or customs makes a seizure of illegal goods, they find them and take them away. 缴获; 没收
例：
Police have made one of the biggest seizures of heroin there's ever been.
警方这次缴获的海洛因是迄今为止数目最大的几宗之一。
八、include /ɪnˈkluːd/ CET4 TEM4 ( including, included, includes )
V-T If one thing includes another thing, it has the other thing as one of its parts. 包括
例：
The trip has been extended to include a few other events.
行程已经延长以包括其他几项活动。
V-T If someone or something is included in a large group, system, or area, they become a part of it or are considered a part of it. 把…列为一部分
例：
I had worked hard to be included in a project like this.
为了成为这样的项目的一分子，我过去一直埋头苦干。
九、undertake /ˌʌndəˈteɪk/ CET4 TEM4 ( undertaking, undertook, undertaken, undertakes )
V-T When you undertake a task or job, you start doing it and accept responsibility for it. 从事; 承担
例：
She undertook the task of monitoring the elections.
她承担了监督选举的任务。
V-T If you undertake to do something, you promise that you will do it. 承诺
例：
He undertook to edit the text himself.
他承诺亲自编辑正文。
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