2015-10-16 Australia defends cat killing 澳大利亚为宰杀野猫辩解

文字稿

澳大利亚相关部门为其宰杀野猫的决定做出辩解说野猫威胁到当地物种的存活。英国歌手莫里西（Morrissey）和法国影星碧姬·芭铎 (Brigitte Bardot) 指责此宰杀行为。以下是 Jon Donnison 的报道。

The proposed cull will involve the killing of two million feral cats that the Australian government says are decimating many threatened species which the cats prey on.

Earlier this year Brigitte Bardot, a prominent animal rights campaigner, described the cull as ‘animal genocide‘. Morrissey has called the cull ‘idiocy’, adding that wild cats are smaller versions of Cecil, the Lion, which was killed amid much publicity and outrage by an American hunter in Zimbabwe earlier this year.

Now Australia’s Threatened Species Commissioner Gregory Andrews has written to both – Bardot and Morrissey – explaining the policy. He says feral cats are an invasive species, not native to Australia, and that they’ve already led to the extinction of at least 27 Australian mammals, including the desert bandicoot and long-eared hopping mouse.

词汇表

cull  （为减少数量）宰杀
feral  野生的
decimating  大量杀死
prey on  捕食
animal rights campaigner  保护动物权利人士
(animal) genocide  （动物）灭杀，大屠杀
outrage  义愤
policy  政策，行动
extinction  灭绝

测验

请听报道并回答下列问题。

1. Are all kinds of cats affected by the policy?

2. Who’s compared cats to a lion?

3. True or false? Commissioner Gregory Andrews has written to Bardot and Morrissey explaining that the cats killed other animals in the country.

4. Are feral cats originally from Australia?

答案

1. Are all kinds of cats affected by the policy?
No. Only feral cats are affected.

2. Who’s compared cats to a lion?
British musician Morrissey compared the killing of Australian feral cats to that of Cecil, the Lion in Zimbabwe by an American hunter.

3. True or false? Commissioner Gregory Andrews has written to Bardot and Morrissey explaining that the cats killed other animals in the country.
True. Australia’s Threatened Species Commissioner Gregory Andrews says feral cats are an invasive species, not native to Australia.

4. Are feral cats originally from Australia?
No. The cats are not native to Australia.