熊貓寶寶帶來的曙光

by David George Gordon

翻譯：法比仔

熊貓寶寶帶來的曙光

Giant Panda Cubs Give Hope to an Endangered Species

by David George Gordon

翻譯：法比仔

當下，人類一直在努力地保護我們可愛的熊貓。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

give birth to生產，生育

conservation group保護組織

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

據科學家們統計，生活在華中地區深山里頭的大熊貓不超過2000只，另外約有200只大熊貓生活在動物園里，且主要分布在中國。大熊貓是世界上現存的最為珍稀的哺乳類動物之一。

飼養熊貓寶寶

“我們重視每一只新生的熊貓寶寶，”美國圣地亞哥動物園大熊貓研究團隊的領隊說。“在這些熊貓寶寶長大以后，其中的一些會回歸山林野外生活，”他說道。另外，一些熊貓會繼續交配，生育出更多的熊貓寶寶，這將有助于中國野生大熊貓種群的數量回升。

“繁殖大熊貓絕非易事，”領隊說。雌性大熊貓每兩年才繁衍一次。若是在野外，一只成年的雌性熊貓在其一生中大概能成功養育五到八只熊貓寶寶。

大熊貓的足跡曾經一路穿越中國，直至東部的沿海地區。可是，由于越來越多的人開始扎根定居、開荒耕地，熊貓失去了它們的許多棲息地和大部分食物。

對未來的憧憬

如今，相關的保護組織、科學家、動物園里的員工，以及中國政府，正致力于保護大熊貓的棲息地。許多人考慮建造竹林地帶，以保護大熊貓免于滅絕。這些地帶能為所有的野生熊貓提供一片更大的棲息場所。

1 ) estimate [?est?me?t] v.估計，判斷

2 ) living [?l?v??] adj.活著的，現存的

3 ) mammal [?m?ml] n.哺乳動物

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