中國網(wǎng)站品牌欄目（頻道）
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 An okapi: Tracks were seen by researchers five years ago for the first time since 1959.
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Conservationists are overestimating the number of species that have been driven to extinction, scientists have said. A study has found that a third of all mammal species declared extinct in the past few centuries have turned up alive and well. Some of the more reclusive creatures managed to hide from sight for 80 years only to reappear within four years of being officially named extinct in the wild. The shy okapi – which resembles a cross between a zebra and a giraffe – was first discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1901. After increasingly rarer sightings, it vanished from the wildlife radar for decades from 1959, prompting fears that it had died out. But five years ago researchers working for the WWF found okapi tracks in the wild. Other mammals 'back from the dead' include the rat-like Cuban solenodon, the Christmas Island shrew, the Vanikoro Flying Fox of the Solomon Islands, the Australian central rock rat and the Talaud Flying Fox of Indonesia. The revelations come as the world's leading conservationists prepare for a major United Nations summit on biodiversity in Nagoya, Japan, next month. Many scientists believe the world is going through a new 'mass extinction' fuelled by mankind – and that more species are disappearing now than at any time since the dinosaurs vanished 65 million years ago. According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, 22 per cent of the world's mammals are at risk of extinction. In Britain, more than two plant and animal species are being wiped out each year. (Read by Lee Hannon. Lee Hannon is a journalist at the China Daily Web site.) (Agencies) |
科學(xué)家稱，環(huán)保人士對滅絕物種的數(shù)量估計過高。 一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，過去幾個世紀(jì)已經(jīng)宣告滅絕的哺乳動物中有三分之一其實都活得好好的。 有些行蹤更隱秘的生物在消失了80年后被官方宣告已在野外絕種，而在宣告后不到四年，它們又再次現(xiàn)身。 害羞的歐卡皮鹿是外形界于斑馬和長頸鹿之間的一種動物，1901年在剛果民主共和國首次被發(fā)現(xiàn)。 后來，人們見到它的次數(shù)越來越少，從1959年起野生動物雷達(dá)系統(tǒng)就再也捕捉不到它的蹤跡，于是人們擔(dān)心它已經(jīng)絕種了。 然而，五年前，為世界野生動物基金會工作的研究人員在野外發(fā)現(xiàn)了歐卡皮鹿的蹤跡。 其他“死而復(fù)生”的哺乳動物包括外形像老鼠的古巴鼩、圣誕島麝香鼩、所羅門群島的瓦尼科羅狐蝠、中澳巖鼠，還有印尼的塔勞狐蝠。 這些真相是世界知名的環(huán)保人士們?yōu)槁?lián)合國關(guān)于生態(tài)多樣性的一次大型峰會做準(zhǔn)備時發(fā)現(xiàn)的。該峰會將于下個月在日本名古屋舉行。 許多科學(xué)家認(rèn)為世界正在經(jīng)歷由人類引發(fā)的新一輪“物種大滅絕”，現(xiàn)在滅絕的物種是自6500萬年前恐龍滅絕以來最多的。 據(jù)世界自然保護聯(lián)盟稱，世界上22%的哺乳動物正面臨絕種的危險。在英國，每年消失的植物和動物物種都在兩個以上。 相關(guān)閱讀 （中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津 陳丹妮 編輯：馬文英） |
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Vocabulary: reclusive: 隱遁的 okapi: a large browsing mammal of the giraffe family that lives in the rain forests of the northern Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire). It has a dark chestnut coat with stripes on the hindquarters and upper legs（一種非洲鹿） |
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