VOA慢速英语:Study: Elephants Disappearing from Parts of Africa(翻译)

A survey reporting on elephant counts was released last week. It shows the future of the species is in trouble.
一份关于大象数量的调查报告于上周发布。该报告显示，大象种群的未来令人担忧。

Elephants are facing extinction in parts of the Republic of Congo, Cameroon and Zambia, according to the Great Elephant Census (GEC).
根据“大象普查”（GEC）报告的数据，在刚果民主共和国、喀麦隆和赞比亚的部分地区，大象正在面临灭绝。

The study estimated a population of 352,271 elephants in the 18 countries surveyed. That is a drop of nearly 150,000 elephants since 2007. The researchers say the population has been falling by about 8 percent each year.
该报告在18个受调查的国家对352271头大象作出了评估。自2007年开始，大象数量已经下降了近15万头。研究人员表示每年大象数量大约下降8%。

The GEC points out one large reason for the decrease in the elephant population. Ivory poaching has led to the lower numbers of elephants in most of the countries surveyed.
GEC报告指出了大象数量下降很大的一个原因。在受调查的大多数国家，象牙偷猎都是大象数量越来越少的罪魁祸首。

Even more troubling is where the dead elephants are being killed. The study reported a high number of carcasses - around 12 for every 100 live elephants – are being found on protected grounds. This number was highest in Cameroon.
更加让人担心的是那些死去的大象被杀的地点。报告显示大部分大象尸体——每100头活的大象中就有约12头死去——是在保护区被发现的。这个数字在喀麦隆达到了最高。

There, 83 carcasses were found for every 100 live elephants. Many of the elephants were victims of killing by poachers for their ivory.
在喀麦隆，每100头活的大象中就有83头死去。很多大象都是被想要获取象牙的偷猎者杀死的。

Many of these protected areas for wildlife are located on Africa’s savannahs. Savannahs are large flat areas of land with grass and very few trees.
很多这样的野生动物保护区都位于非洲的稀树草原上。稀树草原就是大片平坦的草原，上面有零星几棵树。

The GEC was started in 2014. Its job is to monitor savannah elephants across Africa. All other studies and counts of elephants before this survey were estimates.
GEC于2014年成立。其职责是观察非洲稀树草原上的大象。在这个调查报告之前，所有对大象的研究和大象数量都是估计。

The survey was conducted by air. Researchers in dozens of airplanes counted the animals as they flew over the groups of elephants.
调查是在空中进行的。研究人员分乘几十架飞机，在飞过成群大象的时候数大象的数量。

The census also used video cameras to help count the elephants.
此次普查也用了摄像机来帮助数大象。

I’m Anne Ball.
安妮·贝尔为您报道。