澳大利亚已射杀5000头骆驼

此前，澳大利亚宣布将扑杀约1万头骆驼。近日，有媒体报道，南澳大利亚州通过直升机在五天内射杀了超5000头野生骆驼。

5,000 feral camels culled in drought-hit Australia

Bangkok Post

Helicopter-borne marksmen killed more than 5,000 camels in a five-day cull of feral herds that were threatening indigenous communities in drought-stricken areas of southern Australia, officials said Tuesday.

cull

作动词，表示“宰杀 (病弱动物以减少其数目) ”，英文解释为“To cull animals means to kill the weaker animals in a group in order to reduce their numbers.”举个🌰：

To save remaining herds and habitat, the national parks department is planning to cull 1234 elephants.

为挽救余下的兽群及其栖息地，国家公园管理部门正计划杀掉1234头大象。

其实，更多的介绍用的是kill这个词，还有shoot.

marksman

表示“神射手，神枪手”，英文解释为“someone who can shoot a gun very accurately”举个🌰：

Police marksmen were called to the scene.

警方的神枪手被调至现场。

-borne

表示“…传播的；…携带的；...承载的”，英文解释为“carried or moved by a particular thing”，如：air-borne 空气传播的，water-borne 水传播的，rocket-borne weapons 火箭运载武器。

feral

表示“野生的”，英文解释为“existing in a wild state, especially describing an animal that was previously kept by people”，如：feral dogs/cats 野狗/猫。下文用了non-native来替换这一含义。

herd

表示“兽群；牧群”，英文解释为“a large group of animals of the same type that live and feed together”，如：a herd of cattle/elephants/goats 一群牛/大象/山羊。

drought-stricken

标题中用的是drought-hit，此处用drought-stricken，表示“遭旱灾的，受旱灾严重影响的”，-stricken表示“受严重侵害的，遭受重创的”，英文解释为“suffering severely from the effects of something unpleasant”，如：a poverty-stricken area 贫困地区，emergency aid for famine-stricken countries 向遭受饥荒的国家提供的紧急援助。

比如，「Part3」2019政府工作报告中英文对照注释版中，就有一句，贫困地区自我发展能力稳步提高。The self-development capacity of poverty-stricken areas was steadily enhanced.

Aboriginal leaders in South Australia state said extremely large herds of the non-native camels had been driven towards rural communities by drought and extreme heat, threatening scarce food and drinking water, damaging infrastructure, and creating a dangerous hazard for drivers.

aboriginal

作形容词，表示“土著的；土生土长的”，英文解释为“used to refer to a person or living thing that has existed in a country or continent since the earliest time known to people”，如：aboriginal forests 原始森林 aboriginal inhabitants 土著居民。

对比上文出现的另一个词：indigenous表示“当地的；本土的，土生土长的”，英文解释为：naturally existing in a place or country rather than arriving from another place，举个🌰：

So who are the indigenous people of this land?

那么谁是这块土地上的原住民？

此外，aborinial首字母大写，Aboriginal可以直接作名词，表示“澳大利亚土著居民”（an Aborigine）

scarce

表示“缺乏的；不足的；稀少的”，英文解释为“if sth is scarce , there is not enough of it and it is only available in small quantities”，如：scarce resources 稀缺资源。

The cull in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands -- home to about 2,300 indigenous people in the arid northwest of South Australia -- ended on Sunday, said APY general manager Richard King.

arid

表示“干旱的；干燥的”，英文解释为“having little or no rain; very dry”，如：arid and semi-arid deserts 干旱和半干旱的沙漠。

"We appreciate the concerns of animal rights activists, but there is significant misinformation about the realities of life for non-native feral animals, in what is among the most arid and remote places on Earth," King said in a statement on Tuesday.

"As custodians of the land, we need to deal with an introduced pest in a way that protects valuable water supplies for communities and puts the lives of everyone, including our young children, the elderly, and native flora and fauna first."

custodian

表示“管理员，看管人”，英文解释为“The custodian of an official building, a company's assets, or something else valuable is the person who is officially in charge of it.”

flora and fauna

表示“动植物；动植物群；草木鸟兽”，英文解释为“Plant life and wildlife, collectively.”

King said weakened camels frequently became stuck and died in water holes, contaminating water sources needed by locals and native animals and birds.

contaminate

表示“污染；弄脏”，英文解释为“to make a substance or place dirty or no longer pure by adding a substance that is dangerous or carries disease”举个🌰：

The drinking water has become contaminated with lead.

饮用水被铅污染了。

"The prolonged dry period, while not difficult for native wildlife, leads to extreme distress for feral camels," he said.

APY officials said the operation had removed more than 5,000 camels.

The cull came as Australia experienced its hottest and driest year on record in 2019, with the severe drought causing some towns to run out of water and fuelling deadly bushfires that have devastated the country's southeast.

Camels were first introduced to Australia in the 1840s to aid in the exploration of the continent's vast interior, with up to 20,000 imported from India in the six decades that followed.

Australia is now thought to have the largest wild camel population in the world, with official estimates suggesting more than one million are roaming the country's inland deserts.

roam

表示“徜徉；闲逛；漫步”，英文解释为“to walk or travel around an area without any definite aim or direction”举个🌰：

The sheep are allowed to roam freely on this land.

绵羊可以在这片地上自由走动。

The animals are considered a pest, as they foul water sources and trample native flora while foraging for food over vast distances each day.

foul

作动词，表示“（通常用废物）弄脏，污染”，英文解释为“to make sth dirty, usually with waste material”举个🌰：

Do not permit your dog to foul the grass.

禁止狗在草地便溺。

trample

表示“踩碎；踩伤；践踏”，英文解释为“to step heavily on sb/sth so that you crush or harm them/it with your feet”举个🌰：

People were trampled underfoot in the rush for the exit.

有人在拼命涌向出口时被踩在脚下。

forage

表示“觅（食）”，英文解释为“to search for food”举个🌰：

We disturbed a wild boar that had been foraging by the roadside.

我们惊动了一只在路边觅食的野公猪。

Traditional owners in the APY Lands have for years mustered and sold off feral camels.

But more recently they have "been unable to manage the scale and number of camels that congregate in dry conditions", according to the environment department.

muster

前天在金钟大承认恋情 | 微软正式终止支持Win7一文中刚出现这个词。

1） muster sth (up)表示“找寻，聚集，激起（支持、勇气等）”，英文解释为“to find as much support, courage, etc. as you can”举个🌰：

We mustered what support we could for the plan.

我们极尽所能为这项计划寻求支持。

2）表示“集合，召集，集结”，英文解释为“to come together, or bring people, especially soldiers, together for example for military action”举个🌰：

The troops mustered.

部队集结起来。

3）此处可以理解为另一个含义，表示“赶拢（牛、羊）”，英文解释为“to gather together sheep or cows”。下一段还出现了congregate这一个词，有类似的含义，表示“群集；聚集；集合”（to come together in a group）举个🌰：

Young people often congregate in the main square in the evenings.

年轻人傍晚时经常聚集在大广场上。

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