啰哩吧嗦
可怜的非洲山地大猩猩，看着雄壮威武，不过号称“温柔的巨人”。数量稀少是濒危动物，之前好不容易在人类保护之下，数量稳健增长，现在又因为COVID-19遭到威胁。山地大猩猩是一种得了感冒都可能丧命的小可怜，所以非洲各国也制定了相应的保护政策。
VOA原文
As the coronavirus continues to spread among humans around the world, conservationists are warning of its possible risk to anothergroup: Africa's endangered mountain gorillas.
Congo's Virunga National Park is home to about 30 percent of the world's mountain gorillas. The park is barring visitors until June 1 because scientists believe the gorillas may be able to catch the new coronavirus.
Neighboring Rwanda also is shutting down visitor and research activities in three national parks that are home to gorillas and chimpanzees.
Mountain gorillas can contract some respiratory diseases that humans contract. A simple cold can kill a gorilla, says the Worldwide Fund for Nature. That is why park visitors are not supposed to get too close to gorillas. Rules call for a 7-meter distance between gorillas and humans.
About 1,000 mountain gorillas live in protected areas in Congo, Uganda and Rwanda. Permitting the public to visit these areas is important and profitable. However, COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, led Virunga park officials to order the temporary ban.
Conservationists have welcomed the decision.
Paula Kahumbu leads the Kenya-based conservation group Wildlife Direct. She says that "every possible effort must be made" to protect mountain gorillas because so few are left in the wild.
"We know that gorillas are very sensitive to human diseases," Kahumbu said. "If anyone has a cold or a flu they are not allowed to go and see the gorillas." She Added that people can spread the new coronavirus before they show any signs of infection. So, visitors could "put those gorillas at risk."
Even under normal conditions, park measures to protect the gorillas from tourists may not be enough.
Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka is the founder and leader of the Uganda-based Conservation Through Public Health. She noted a study done this year by her organization and Ohio University. It looked at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. She said the research showed that the rule separating gorillas and tourists was ineffective.
Kalema-Zikusoka said the study showed that the seven-meter rule was violated almost every time a group of visitors entered the park. She said visitors were to blame about sixty percent of the time. In the other cases, it was the gorillas that moved too close to the humans.
Uganda has not announced a shutdown of gorilla park tourism. However, the number of visitors from Europe and other places has sharply decreased.
The mountain gorilla population shrank severely in the past 100 years because of disease and hunting, which is illegal. Mountain gorillas have been listed as endangered since 1996. But, their population is now growing.
Tourism brings much foreign money into Rwanda and Uganda. Tourism earnings are important in efforts to protect mountain gorillas. Officials can use it to help local communities or invest in anti-hunting operations. A gorilla tracking permit costs up to $600 in Uganda. A similar permit costs more than $1,000 in Rwanda.
Some observers worry a decrease in tourism during the coronavirus crisis could endanger gorillas. Hunters might become more active if they think the crisis has weakened security.
满满de知识点
1. conservationist 美 [ˌkɑːnsərˈveɪʃənɪst]
n. （自然环境、野生动植物等）保护主义者
conservation 美 [ˌkɑːnsərˈveɪʃn]
n. the preservation and careful management of the environmentand of natural resources
2. endangered 美 [ɪnˈdeɪndʒərd]
adj. 濒临灭绝的；有生命危险的
3. gorilla 美[ɡəˈrɪlə] n. 大猩猩
chimpanzee 美 [ˌtʃɪmpænˈziː] n. [脊椎]黑猩猩
4. Mountain gorillas can contract some respiratory diseases that humans contract
contract 美 [ˈkɑːntrækt]
v. be stricken byan illness, fall victim to an illness 这里是感染的意思respiratory 美 [ˈrespərətɔːri]
adj. having to do with breathing
respiratory diseases 呼吸道疾病
参考译文
随着这种冠状病毒继续在世界各地的人类中传播，环保人士警告说，它可能对另一个群体构成威胁，那就是非洲濒临灭绝的山地大猩猩。刚果的维龙加国家公园是世界上大约30%的山地大猩猩的家园。公园将在6月1日前禁止游客入园，因为科学家们相信大猩猩可能会感染这种新型冠状病毒。邻国卢旺达也关闭了三个国家公园的参观和研究活动，这三个国家公园是大猩猩和黑猩猩的家园。山地大猩猩会感染一些人类感染的呼吸道疾病。世界自然基金会说，简单的感冒就能杀死一只大猩猩。这就是为什么公园游客不应该太接近大猩猩。根据规定，大猩猩和人类之间要保持7米的距离。大约有1000只山地大猩猩生活在刚果、乌干达和卢旺达的保护区。允许公众参观这些地区是重要的，也是有利可图的。然而，由冠状病毒引起的COVID-19疾病，导致维龙加公园的官员下令临时禁令。环保人士对这一决定表示欢迎。Paula Kahumbu是肯尼亚野生动物保护组织WildlifeDirect的负责人。她说，“必须尽一切可能的努力”来保护山地大猩猩，因为野生的大猩猩太少了。卡呼布说卡呼布说:“我们知道大猩猩对人类的疾病非常敏感。”“如果有人得了感冒或流感，他们就不应该去看大猩猩。”她补充说，人们可以在表现出任何感染迹象之前传播病毒。因此，游客可能“把这些大猩猩置于危险之中”。即使在正常情况下，公园保护大猩猩免受游客伤害的措施可能也不够。Gladys kalima - zikusoka是乌干达公共卫生保护组织的创始人和领导者。她提到了她的组织和俄亥俄大学今年做的一项研究。这项研究在BwindiImpenetrable国家公园。她说，研究表明，将大猩猩和游客分开的规定是无效的。kalima - zikusoka说，研究表明，几乎每次一群游客进入公园时，和大猩猩的距离都会小于七米。她说，60%的情况下都是游客惹的祸。在其他情况下，是大猩猩太接近人类。乌干达还没有宣布关闭大猩猩公园的旅游。然而，来自欧洲和其他地方的游客数量急剧下降。在过去的100年里，由于疾病和非法捕猎，山地大猩猩的数量急剧减少。自1996年以来，山地大猩猩就被列为濒危物种。不过他们的数量现在得以增长。旅游业为卢旺达和乌干达带来了大量的外国资金。在保护山地大猩猩的努力中，旅游收入很重要。官员们可以用它来帮助当地社区或投资反狩猎行动。在乌干达，大猩猩追踪许可证的价格高达600美元。在卢旺达，一个类似的许可证要花费1000多美元。一些观察人士担心，在冠状病毒危机期间，旅游业的衰退可能会危及大猩猩。如果猎人认为危机削弱了安全，他们可能会变得更加猖狂。
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