Orangutan Study
This is the VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT.
Orangutans are great apes that live in coastal jungles on theislands of Borneo and Sumatra A team of international scientistshas found evidence that some orangutans have developed theirown culture They found evidence that orangutan groups havedifferent ways to communicate, eat and use tools.
The findings suggest that the animals' early ancestors may havecreated their own culture as early as fourteen-million years ago.That is when orangutans and other great apes last had a commonancestor Earlier studies had shown that great ape culture hadbeen in existence for up to seven-million years.
For scientists, culture is the ability to invent and learn ways ofdoing things These methods must not be the direct result ofbiology or the environment They are learned from others andpassed on to individuals.
Science magazine published the study about orangutans Thescientists collected evidence from years of observations in sixareas on Borneo and Sumatra The scientists found that theanimals demonstrated a total of twenty-four signs of culturalactivity Several actions were demonstrated in some orangutangroups, but not others.
For example, members of some groups make a kissing noise bytightening their mouths and sucking in air Some groups use leavesto clean themselves or protect their hands from sharp objects Yetother groups use leaves to crush insects or gather water Thescientists found that some of the animals use sticks as tools toremove insects from holes in trees Other orangutans use sticks toremove seeds from fruit or to touch their bodies.
Trang 2falls down They hold onto another tree just before the dead treehits the ground Other orangutans often watch this activity.
For years, scientists thought that only humans had cultures.However, evidence for socially-learned traditions among animals isincreasing The best evidence came from a study of chimpanzeesin Africa in nineteen-ninety-nine Scientists say the growing amountof evidence about animal culture reduces the differences betweenhumans and animals and between culture and nature.
This VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT was written
by George Grow.
Wildlife Reacting to Climate Changes
This is the VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT.
American scientists say rising temperatures on Earth's surface areforcing animals and plants to move to cooler areas and make otherchanges Their studies found that warmer weather is causing manykinds of wildlife to leave their native environments They also foundthat such natural events as tree flowering and long-distance travelby birds are now happening earlier in the year Nature magazinereported the findings.
The scientists say the result of these changes could beenvironmental damage and local losses of wildlife They also warnthat some creatures could disappear completely.
Plants and animals have always had to react to changingenvironments However, the climate is now changing faster thanever before Many scientists blame heat-trapping industrial gasesfor the warmer weather.
Trang 3kinds of wildlife over many years They used mathematicalprograms to make sure that only the best information was studied.Their most detailed effort involved ninety-nine kinds of birds,insects and plants in North America and Europe They found thatthe territory where these plants and animals live has moved northby an average of six kilometers every ten years In Europe, somebutterflies now live as much as one-hundred kilometers to the northbecause of changes linked to higher temperatures.
Professors Parmesan and Yohe used similar methods to examineone-hundred-seventy-two kinds of wildlife They examined thetiming of events in the spring, such as the appearance of flowersand the reproduction of animals They found that these eventshappened an average of two days earlier than normal every tenyears.
In the second study, scientists at Stanford University in Palo Alto,California, examined wildlife and climate information from one-hundred-forty-three studies They found that about eighty percentof the creatures studied had made changes because of warmerweather.
This VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT was written
by George Grow.
Keiko the Whale
This is Mary Tillotson And this is Steve Ember with the VOA
Special English program EXPLORATIONS.
Today we tell about what has happened to Keiko (KAY-koh), theorca whale who appeared in the movie "Free Willy." Orcas are theblack-and-white mammals sometimes called killer whales.
((SOUNDS: WHALES SINGING))
Trang 4movie tells about a whale named Willy Humans capture andmistreat him But the film ends happily as the huge animal escapesinto the open ocean.
In real life, however, nobody is sure what the future holds forKeiko Like Willy, Keiko was rescued from poor conditions in ananimal park Since then many people have worked hard to giveKeiko a better life Expert trainers now are trying to teach him tosurvive independently in the open ocean.
If he is able to do so, he would be the first orca ever returned to thewild after living most of his life under human control.
Keiko's story begins with his birth near Iceland in about nineteen-seventy-seven He was captured at age two as he swam with hisfamily Then he spent three years in an Icelandic ocean center.Next he was sold to an entertainment center in Niagara Falls,Ontario, Canada There he learned to perform for people who paidto see trained sea animals But he began to develop skinproblems.
His Canadian owners sold Keiko to an amusement park in MexicoCity Children there loved him But the water in his container wastoo warm for an orca whale And, at times, it was not deep enougheven to cover the skin on his back His skin problems worsened.He acted sad.
The Warner Brothers production company entered Keiko's life innineteen-ninety-two The company filmed him for the movie "FreeWilly." The movie told about a young boy who frees a whale calledWilly from an entertainment park The park is controlled bydishonest and uncaring operators Millions of people saw this filmand two others about Willy that followed Keiko the actor-whalebecame famous.
Trang 5Brothers and an American businessman, Craig McCaw, promisedthey would create a better home for the popular animal.
((MUSIC: "AND GOD CREATED GREAT WHALES"))
Warner Brothers, Mr McCaw and the Humane Society of theUnited States took part in a campaign to help Keiko More thanone-million children joined the effort The owner of the Mexicanpark gave the whale to an organization called the Free Willy/KeikoFoundation.
Mr McCaw and the movie company gave the last money neededto finish a new home for the whale A special treatment center andaquarium were built in the northwest American state of Oregon.When Keiko arrived in this new home, he weighed nine-hundredkilograms less than he should have His muscles were in poorcondition He had broken some of his teeth by biting on the sidesof his container in Mexico He could hold his breath under water foronly a few minutes.
In Oregon, Keiko's skin growths disappeared He learned to holdhis breath for twenty minutes He also ate live fish for the first time.Life at the aquarium was good for Keiko And Keiko was good forthe aquarium in return Many people came to see the orca swimand play.
After eighteen months in Oregon, Keiko had gained more than oneton The Free Willy/Keiko Foundation decided he was ready for areturn to the icy ocean where he was born.
The next step for Keiko was to move him to Iceland That tookplace in September nineteen-ninety-eight after careful scientificplanning An American Air Force plane flew him to Iceland Aninternational environmental organization, Ocean Futures, and theHumane Society paid for the trip It cost two-million dollars.
Trang 6The keepers taught him skills he would need to live free Theydeveloped his ability to catch live fish They took him on what theycalled "walks" in the open ocean This meant he would leave hisfloating cage and swim free The keepers would watch him from aboat.
During the summer, trainers released Keiko for an extended test.They wanted to see how well he had learned his lessons Afterbeing freed, Keiko stayed in open waters for several weeks Hetraveled more than one-thousand-two-hundred kilometers, joiningother orcas for a while.
But he did not stay with them Instead, he followed boats andappealed for food Keiko ended his trip by entering a protectedarea in Norway called Skaalvik Fjord (SKOLE-VEEK FEE-ORD)near the town of Halsa (HOLE-zah).
Near Halsa, he performed tricks for people who came to see him.His keepers appealed to people to leave Keiko alone Buthundreds of people touched him Some visitors even rode on hisback.
Officials in Norway wanted to cooperate with the keepers Theywanted to help Keiko become independent So the officialsrestricted crowds from getting near him Even after that, however,he swam close to shore He responded to a little girl playing musicon her harmonica A very similar incident had taken place in themovie "Free Willy." Keiko, it seems, wants to be near people.
((MUSIC: "AND GOD CREATED GREAT WHALES"))
The keepers say they still believe Keiko can learn to live in theocean with other orcas They say he is continuing to makeprogress toward this goal.
Trang 7As the warmer season ended, Keiko's trainers decided to lead himto another area, also near Halsa His new home protects him fromfierce winter storms The trainers won the whale's co-operation byoffering him large amounts of herring These fish are Keiko's firstchoice of food.
His trainers hope he will see more whales in the new home inTaknes (Tahk-NESS) Bay Only a few farm families live nearby.There are no crowds to interfere with Keiko's training The trainerssay they will continue their attempts to free him once the weatherimproves.
But even if Keiko never becomes independent, his keepers say hecan live the rest of his life in Norway under their care.
Humane Society official Paul Irwin says he sees no reason tomove Keiko again Mr Irwin points out that Keiko chose where hewanted to be and seems happy there He says he thinks Keiko canstay as long as Norway accepts his presence.
Norwegian officials seem happy to do this The nation bans huntingor capture of most kinds of whales Norway recently resisted arequest by an oceanic entertainment center to take Keiko to Miami,Florida.
The Miami Seaquarium wanted to place Keiko with Lolita, itsfemale orca But animal rights activists say the Seaquarium wateris too warm for orcas And they say the container tank is too small.The activists point to the fact that orcas can swim as many as one-hundred kilometers a day They say keeping them in restrictedpools of water is cruel The activists say captured orcas live lessthan one-half the normal lifetime of an orca in the ocean But someanimal experts dispute all these points.
Trang 8She hopes Keiko's story has a happy ending So do thousands ofother people who know about the friendly orca They hope thatwhatever happens to him, Keiko's life ends as happily as the moviethat made him famous.
((MUSIC: "AND GOD CREATED GREAT WHALES"))
This Special English program was written by Jerilyn Watson andproduced by Caty Weaver This is Mary Tillotson And this is SteveEmber Join us again next week for another Explorations programon the Voice of America.
Kenya Lion Cares for Oryx
This is the VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT.
Scientists do not understand the unusual actions of a female lion ina protected wildlife park in northern Kenya The lioness in theSamburu National Reserve has been caring for baby antelopesthat it would normally kill and eat The lioness has become themost popular animal in the wildlife park Many people have visitedthe park to observe her unusual behavior Scientists say thelioness has defied the laws of nature.
Local people in Kenya named the lioness Kamuniak, which means"the blessed one" in the local Samburu language She has caredfor five young oryxes since January An oryx is a kind of Africanantelope At birth, the oryx is a light brown color When it grows up,it develops black and white markings on its face It develops longstraight horns Lions in the wild usually eat them.
The lioness became famous in Kenya when pictures of her werepublished on the front page of a local newspaper She was walkingside by side and lying in the grass with a baby oryx.
Trang 9food Their mothers were usually too afraid of the lioness to getclose enough to feed their young One time, however, a baby oryxwas eaten by a male lion while Kamuniak slept.
The lioness usually does not hunt for food while raising the babyantelopes Experts say she apparently is too concerned about thesafety of the oryxes to leave them alone.
Wildlife experts do not understand Kamuniak's actions Some havesaid the lioness wants to be like a mother to the baby antelopesbecause she is unable to give birth to her own babies Others sayshe has a mental disorder Park officials have welcomed natureexperts and researchers to the park to study the lioness's strangebehavior.
Last month, one of the oryxes died of starvation and the lioness ateit It was the first time Kamuniak had eaten one of the younganimals A wildlife official at the park and many visitors weresurprised to see this But the official said it was only nature.
This VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT was written
by Cynthia Kirk.
Chinook Salmon Deaths
This is the VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT.
American officials say at least twenty-thousand chinook salmonand other fish have died recently in the Klamath River in NorthernCalifornia Scientists are not sure what caused the die-off Butenvironmental groups say the Bush administration's plan to redirectthe flow of the river to provide water for crops may have causedwater levels to drop too low.
Trang 10fishermen, environmental groups and several Native Americantribes on the other side.
Six months ago, the Bush administration approved a plan toprovide large amounts of water to farmers near the Klamath Riverfor irrigation Farmers depend on water from the upper KlamathLake to irrigate more than eighty-thousand hectares of land.Administration officials said the plan would satisfy farmers andhonor environmental laws But opponents of the plan said it wouldseverely harm the river and its fish.
Several fishing groups and others have taken legal action againstthe federal government They said the Bush administration gavetoo much water to farmers for irrigation at the risk of thousands ofsalmon Some of the salmon, such as coho, are protected underthe Endangered Species Act However, chinook salmon do nothave federal protection Chinook were the main victims of therecent fish kill.
Scientists disagree about what caused to the fish to die Testsshowed that most of the fish died of lack of oxygen due toinfections that damaged their gills Scientists say the organismsthat caused the infection are common in the river But rarely havethe organisms led to so many deaths.
Some scientists say warm and dry weather last month and lowwater flows in the Klamath River could be major reasons for thedeaths They say the river is too low for fish to move upstream tomate They say the fish are dying of disease because they arecrowded into small areas of water.
Biologists have called for more water to be released into the riverfor at least six months But so far, federal officials have agreed onlyto two weeks of additional water flows.
This VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT was written
by Cynthia Kirk.
Trang 11This is the VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT.
Chronic wasting disease is infecting large animals like deer and elkin several areas in the United States The disease was firstdiscovered in nineteen-sixty-seven at a wildlife research center inthe western state of Colorado It was identified as transmissiblespongiform encephalopathy in nineteen-seventy-eight.
Biologists believe an abnormal form of a protein causes thedisease The protein infects tissue and spreads quickly Chronicwasting disease causes weight loss and death in animals like deerand elk.
In the nineteen-eighties, the disease was found in wild deer and elkin Colorado and Wyoming Wild groups of animals and deer raisedon farms in other areas developed the disease Today, chronicwasting disease is found in at least eight American states and twoprovinces of Canada.
Biologists are concerned about chronic wasting disease because itmay be similar to mad cow disease, the common name of bovinespongiform encephalopathy Mad cow disease can be spread tohumans The human form of the disease is called Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease It causes brain damage that leads to death TheNew York Times reports that about three-hundred Americansbecome infected with that disease each year.
Currently, there is no evidence that chronic wasting disease canaffect humans The United States Department of Agriculture alsosays it does not believe that the disease can be spread to otherkinds of animals.
The middle western state of Wisconsin has found thirty-one wilddeer infected with chronic wasting disease The state has orderedthat twenty-five- thousand deer be destroyed It wants to testanother twenty-five- thousand animals for the disease.
Trang 12it They say it is impossible to completely destroy the disease in thewild.
Hunting for deer in Wisconsin is a huge industry Experts say thedisease will hurt the state's economy Also, many people who huntfor food may have to change their way of life Experts say thespread of chronic wasting disease may affect the tradition ofhunting in America.
This VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT was written
by Mario Ritter.
Geckos and Their Sticky Feet
This is the VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT.
Geckos are small lizards that live in warm climates These lizardscan stick to any surface For example, geckos can climb up wallsand across the top of a room Scientists have studied the littlelizards for hundreds of years to learn the secret of how they stick tothings Now, they say they have finally solved the mystery Theyhope the finding will help them develop powerful materials that holdthings together.
A team of American biologists and engineers carried out the study.Their findings were published in the Proceedings of the NationalAcademy of Sciences.
Geckos have millions of very small hairs on their toes The end ofeach hair splits into as many as one-thousand smaller hairs So thegecko's foot has hundreds of millions of tiny hairs that touch asurface.
Trang 13Over the years, scientists have put geckos into water to see if theywould stick They do They have dropped them into strong devices,but their sticking ability was not weakened Scientists also haveused radiation to neutralize static electricity They thoughtelectrostatic force helped the animals hold on to a surface.
Scientists say the gecko's sticking power comes from somethingcalled the van der Waals force The term was named after theDutch scientist who first described it more than one-hundred yearsago The force is the attraction between molecules at the ends ofthe gecko's toe hairs and the surface of an object When moleculesare so close together, the unbalanced electrical charges aroundthe molecules can attract one another This provides the attractionbetween the foot of the gecko and a wall or other object.
The scientists showed that a single gecko toe hair has enoughholding power to lift an insect They say a small group of hairs thesize of a coin could possibly lift a small child.
Scientists say they have created the first sticky substance basedon the geckos' hairs They hope to use the powerful substance todevelop new products The scientists recently joined with acompany to develop robots that can climb walls.
This VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT was written
by Cynthia Kirk.
US Proposes Ban on Snakehead Fish
This is the VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT.
American Interior Secretary Gale Norton has proposed a ban onimporting and selling twenty-eight kinds of fish known as thesnakehead Experts say the fish is a threat to the environmentbecause it eats other fish, plants and animals.
Trang 14stay out of the water for as many as three days The fish can leavethe water and move across land to find food in other bodies ofwater.
The snakehead has a wide mouth, sharp teeth and powerful jaws.Some people say it looks like a snake's head The fish can swallowother large fish It also eats small animals, including frogs, birdsand mammals Biologists say the snakehead has no knownenemies.
Snakeheads are usually sold in fish markets or in pet stores in theUnited States They are known for their excellent taste.
In May, a northern snakehead was discovered in a small lake inCrofton, Maryland A local man has since admitted that he put twosnakeheads into the pond two years ago He said he had boughtthe fish from a market in New York City At first, he was going tocook the fish and eat them, but he later decided not to do this.
Biologists recently caught about one-hundred baby snakeheads inthe pond in Crofton They fear that hundreds more may be in thewater If the fish escape from the pond, they could move to theLittle Patuxent River, about seventy meters away Scientists fearthe fish could kill the wildlife in the river.
A group of scientists decided that the fish had to be killed beforethis could happen After several tests, they decided that poisoningthe pond with chemicals was the best way to kill the snakeheads.The northern snakehead is only one of many kinds of snakeheads.But it is of most concern because it is the only kind that can survivethrough winters Other species require warmer climates forsurvival.
Trang 15This VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT was written
by Cynthia Kirk.
Navy Sonar and Ocean Animals
This is the VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT.
American officials have approved a plan for the United States Navyto use loud, low-frequency sound wave devices on two ships in theworld's oceans The new sonar system will be used to search forespecially quiet submarines The device works by sending soundwaves through the water When the sound waves hit an object, itspresence is confirmed.
The new sonar system can find objects ten times farther away thanthe sonar used now The Navy plans to use the new system ineighty percent of the world's oceans The noise from the sonardevice is about as loud as a large airplane leaving the ground.The Navy has permission to use the new sonar system for fiveyears Officials say the Navy will have to follow rules on when andwhere to use the sonar devices.
They say the Navy will not be permitted to use the sonar if whalesare seen within two kilometers of the ships The sonar also will bebanned within nineteen kilometers of any coast.
The Navy also is required to investigate the possible effects of thesound waves on ocean animals This includes the ability of whalesto communicate with each other The officials say these measureswill protect the animals from any serious harm.
However, environmental activists do not agree One group, theNational Resources Defense Council, may take legal action to tryto stop the Navy's plans The group criticizes putting the systeminto operation before knowing its possible effects.
Trang 16very loud sonar devices in deep waters around the BahamaIslands More than fifteen whales and a dolphin later were foundtrapped on land along several coasts At least six of the whalesand the dolphin died.
The National Marine Fisheries Service and the Navy investigatedthe incident Investigators said the noise from the sonar led to thedeaths of the ocean animals They also found that all but one ofthe dead whales had bled around the brain and ear bones.
The Navy says the new sonar system is necessary because othernations are developing quiet submarines It says the effect on sealife will be minor.
This VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT was written
by Caty Weaver.
Elk Disease
This is the VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT.
A mysterious disease is killing animals in one of America's mostpopular natural areas The animals are large deer called elk.
Elk once lived in most areas of the United States But hunters killedso many of them that they survived only in the western states.Some elk have been brought back to other areas of the country.Wildlife officials recently decided to re-establish elk populations inthe eastern part of the country In the past two years, they havebrought two groups of elk from Canada to an area in the state ofNorth Carolina The National Park Service released the elk in theGreat Smoky Mountains National Park.
Trang 17It is not known if the disease can spread to cattle or other farmanimals However, chronic wasting disease is linked with mad cowdisease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy Wildlife expertssay the only way to stop the disease from spreading is to killthousands of elk.
The elk in North Carolina first came from a protected area inAlberta, Canada A total of about fifty elk were released into theCataloochee area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.Everything seemed to be going well until a park biologist foundthree dead female elk Two of the animals were pregnant Theanimals appeared to have been starved The National Park Servicereported the deaths in late April Now, state biologists have bannedtransporting elk into and out of the area.
Concern over diseases affecting wild animals like elk hasincreased recently in the United States The state of Wisconsinannounced a plan to destroy fifteen-thousand deer Officials inWisconsin fear that some deer in the state may carry chronicwasting disease.
The disease was first found in the western state of Colorado in thenineteen-sixties Since then, it has been found in deer and elkpopulations in several states.
Some national park biologists do not believe that chronic wastingdisease killed the elk in North Carolina They hope that studies ofthe dead animals will soon show that they are right.
This VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT was written
by Mario Ritter.
Featherless Chickens
This is the VOA Special English AGRICULTURE REPORT.
Trang 18The new chickens have red skins They look unusual Yet thescientist says they have less fat and may grow faster than otherchickens He adds that the lack of feathers will keep the birds coolin the Middle East and other warm climates.
Avigdor Cahaner (AH-vig-dor cah-HA-ner) is a genetic scientist atHebrew University in Jerusalem He also is a vice president of theWorld Poultry Science Association, an industry trade group Mr.Cahaner hopes to create what he believes the world needs ameaty, low-fat chicken.
Other scientists have developed chickens that gain weight quickly.These large birds are called broiler chickens Mr Cahaner notesthat broiler chickens must eat a lot of food in order to grow quickly.This means they also produce a lot of body heat The birds will dieif their body temperatures rise too high.
In warm climates, farmers who raise chickens often are required touse air-cooling systems in buildings where the birds live Mr.Cahaner says poor farmers in developing countries often do nothave the money needed for the cooling equipment.
The Israeli scientist has already produced a number of chickenswithout feathers He started with a natural version of a featherlesschicken discovered fifty years ago He has been mating these birdswith normal chickens.
Mr Cahaner says the new chickens will save money in processingcosts because they do not need to have their feathers removed.He notes that feather removal requires the use of large amounts ofwater and electric power He says the birds are better for theenvironment because they produce less waste in the form offeathers He also says the chicken meat is more nutritious.
Trang 19Mr Cahaner says his featherless birds are not designed for coolerclimates Currently, his birds are smaller than other chickens Hehopes that additional experiments will help increase their size.
This VOA Special English AGRICULTURE REPORT was written
by George Grow.
Coqui Frogs Invade Hawaii
This is the VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT.
Experts say the American state of Hawaii has been invaded by asmall frog called the coqui (ko-KEE) There may be millions of thesmall frogs in Hawaii However, they do not belong there They arenormally found in the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico and in thesoutheastern United States The coqui frogs are harming Hawaii'senvironment And the extremely loud noise they make is causingproblems for Hawaiian citizens and visitors.
The coqui invaders arrived in Hawaii about ten years ago Theywere believed to have been brought in accidentally in shipments ofplants from Puerto Rico or Florida Their numbers have sharplyincreased They have quickly spread around the Hawaiian Islandshidden in plants.
The coqui is a brown frog about five centimeters long During theday, the frogs hide in wet protected areas, such as under plantleaves At night, the frogs move onto trees to feed, call to femalesand mate.
In their native Puerto Rico, local people celebrate coqui frogs Butin Hawaii, the foreign frog has been condemned as a harmfulanimal.
Trang 20The frogs also are affecting the tourism industry in Hawaii.Increasing numbers of hotels, visitors and local people haveprotested about the loud calls made by male coqui frogs to femalefrogs At night, the noise often makes it difficult for people to sleep.The mating call of the male coqui sounds like: "Ko-Kee! Ko-Kee!"That is how they got their name.
The frogs do not have any natural enemies in Hawaii to reducetheir population size The warm weather permits them to lay eggsall year long.There are many efforts in Hawaii designed to stop thespread of the coqui It is a crime to transport, sell or release thefrogs there.
The Hawaiian Department of Agriculture is trying to find aneffective chemical that can be safely used to kill the frogs For now,the frogs may only be captured by hand The Hawaiian Departmentof Agriculture says the greatest threat to the economy andenvironment of the state is from harmful invasive species, like thecoqui.
This VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT was written
by Cynthia Kirk.
Whooping Crane Recovery Project
This is the VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT.
Scientists are trying to create the first migrating group of whoopingcranes in the eastern United States in more than one-hundredyears Migrating birds fly long distances to different areas of thecountry when the seasons change For example, they fly from coldareas to warm areas to spend the winter.
Trang 21Cranes are one of the most threatened families of birds in theworld Whooping cranes are the rarest of all cranes There arefewer than three-hundred-fifty birds left in the world.
Whooping cranes do not produce many baby birds That makes itdifficult to replace birds killed by hunting, natural events, animals,accidents and disease Scientists hope the migration effort will leadto increased reproduction among whooping cranes.
In October, researchers trained eight young whooping cranes to flybehind small airplanes The planes led the endangered birds ontheir first migration They flew from the middle western state ofWisconsin to a protected area in the southeastern state of Floridafor the winter.
The cranes and planes arrived in Florida in December, following afifty-day flight They flew across seven states One crane diedduring the trip Two others were killed by animals in Florida.
The five remaining whooping cranes returned to the Necedah (neh-SEE-dah) National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin on their own lastmonth The return north was the cranes' first unassisted migration.They were guided only by their natural abilities.
Scientists from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and theInternational Crane Foundation have been studying the birds sincethey began their northern migration They say their flight back toWisconsin was quicker than anyone had expected It took ten daysand covered almost two-thousand kilometers.
Scientists had known that existing wild whooping cranes were ableto fly great distances during migration But they did not know if theycould teach young whooping cranes to migrate.
Trang 22This VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT was written
by Cynthia Kirk.
Saving Sea Turtles
This is the VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT.
Environmental groups in the United States are leading a campaignto save thousands of endangered sea turtles They have askedPope John Paul the Second to ban turtle meat during the Christianreligious observance known as Lent Christians observe Lent inpreparation for the holiday of Easter.
Environmental groups say illegal turtle hunting is one of the majorthreats to endangered sea turtles in southern California andMexico It has been illegal to harvest and eat sea turtle meat inMexico for more than ten years However, demand for sea turtlemeat is widespread in both Southern California and Mexico.Biologists believe that illegal hunting is one of the main reasons forthe sharp drop in sea turtle populations during the past thirty years.The week before Easter Sunday is an especially deadly time forthe turtles As many as five-thousand turtles are killed during thistime each year.
Many Mexicans and Mexican Americans eat turtle meat during thedays before Easter Many people do not eat meat during this holytime in order to obey the rules of Lent Because sea turtles swim,many people consider them to be fish Fish is permitted duringLent.
Trang 23About thirty-five-thousand endangered sea turtles are killed illegallynear the coasts of Baja, California, each year Studies have showna sharp drop in the numbers of females They travel from as faraway as Japan to lay their eggs on local beaches.
Environmental activists say hunting sea turtles for their meat is themain barrier to the recovery of the species They have urged thegovernments of the United States and Mexico to improveenforcement of the ban on sea turtle harvesting.
This VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT was written
by Cynthia Kirk.
Slow Tyrannosaurus Rex
This is the VOA Special English SCIENCE REPORT.
Ancient animals called dinosaurs have captured the imagination ofmillions of people around the world The huge dinosaurTyrannosaurus rex has even been in popular American movies like"Jurassic Park." In some movies, Tyrannosaurus rex is shownrunning at top speed after cars and helicopters TheTyrannosaurus in the movies is a terrible combination of speed andpower.
Yet two biological scientists say this is probably wrong They areJohn Hutchinson of Stanford University in California and MarianoGarcia of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York Their researchsuggests that Tyrannosaurus rex could only walk slowly Theyreported their findings in the publication Nature.
Mr Hutchinson and Mr Garcia used a biological computer modelto study the bones of the ancient creature They found that the legsof Tyrannosaurus were not strong enough for the animal to be ableto run fast.
Trang 24to enable the creature to run fast He says its leg muscles wouldhave had to be eighty-five percent of its total weight.
The findings of the two biological scientists conflict with currentscientific information about Tyrannosaurus Until now, scientistsbelieved that the huge dinosaur could run up to seventy kilometersan hour This idea has passed into popular culture all the way tothe directors of Hollywood movies.
Not all scientists agree with the findings of Mr Hutchinson and Mr.Garcia In the last twenty years, scientists who study ancient boneshave linked dinosaurs to birds Some paleontologists believe thebird-like bones of giant dinosaurs suggest that some of theseancient creatures were fast runners Many paleontologists continueto believe that the bone structure of Tyrannosaurus shows that itcould run fast.
The debate over how fast some dinosaurs ran probably willcontinue for some time The last Tyrannosaurus rex died aboutsixty-five-million years ago Paleontologists can only know thegiant creature from its mineral fossil remains Tyrannosaurusalways will remain a creature of popular action movies and of theimagination.
This VOA Special English SCIENCE REPORT was written by
Mario Ritter.
Bird Brains
This is the VOA Special English SCIENCE REPORT.
Trang 25Irene Pepperberg presented her research about a Grey parrotnamed Griffin He lives in her laboratory at the MassachusettsInstitute of Technology in Cambridge.
Mizz Pepperberg says Griffin can arrange objects in order of size.She says the talking bird also can combine words in the right order.For example, he will combine words when asking for a piece offood.
The researcher says experts had thought that only humans andother mammals with large brains have the ability to combineobjects and words She believes that bird brains have the ability tounderstand that complex tasks must be done in the correct order.Some birds have other memory skills For example, they collectand store thousands of seeds in autumn, and find them later inwinter.
Alan Kamil (pronounced camel) and Alan Bond of the University ofNebraska are studying the memories of birds called jays andnutcrackers Their experiments suggest that these birds usenatural objects to find the seeds they have stored They found thebirds use at least three objects, such as rocks or trees, to find thestored seeds.
Mr Kamil also was able to train a jay to choose one object insteadof another The bird used this skill to receive a prize, such as food.Scientists also say some birds can learn as many as two-thousanddifferent songs They say songs may have developed as a way forbirds to communicate with other birds.
Trang 26This VOA Special English SCIENCE REPORT was written by
George Grow.
Monarch Butterfly Deaths in Mexico
This is the VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT.
A severe winter storm in central Mexico last month killed hundredsof millions of monarch butterflies It is the largest number ofmonarch butterflies killed at one time However, scientists say theloss is not expected to threaten the species The butterflies froze todeath in two of the largest protected areas for monarch butterfliesin Mexico.
The Rosario and Sierra Chincua colonies are in the mountains inthe state of Michoacan, west of Mexico City Most of the butterfliesin the two colonies were killed in the storm.
Researchers say the butterflies froze to death after heavy rain fellin the area, followed by freezing temperatures Monarch butterfliescan easily freeze to death if they become wet and the temperaturedrops to freezing Scientists say the temperatures following thestorm were the lowest recorded in the area in the past twenty-fiveyears.
During the year, monarch butterflies fly long distances, or migrate.They are one of the few kinds of insects to migrate This has madethe monarch popular among nature lovers.
Trang 27Some scientists have suggested that the loss of forests in themountains of Mexico led to the die-off of monarchs last month.They say the remaining forests may no longer provide enoughprotection to keep the butterflies warm and dry Every winter,millions of monarchs die in the high mountain forests.
However, scientists note that the species is not in danger ofdisappearing That is because there are other, smaller populationsof monarchs in the United States that did not migrate to Mexico.Scientists say they will know after more study if the monarchpopulations in Mexico will be able to recover from the die-off.
This VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT was written
by Cynthia Kirk.
US Navy and Whales
This is the VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT.
In March of the year Two-Thousand, seventeen large oceananimals mysteriously appeared on the coast of some of theBahama Islands The islands are near the American state ofFlorida The animals were small whales that live only in the oceanand cannot survive on land.
Seven of the whales died Rescuers pushed the other ten whalesback into the Atlantic Ocean Ken Balcomb supervises the MarineMammal Survey on the Bahamian island of Abaco He said the firstwhales appeared near his research station Mr Balcomb knew thathe needed to save tissue from the dead whales to find out whythey had left the sea and died.
He cut off the heads of some of the dead whales He then froze theheads to protect their tissue Mr Balcomb took the frozen whaleheads on a passenger airplane to Boston, Massachusetts.
Trang 28She used an electronic recording device to examine the whales'heads She found that they had suffered severe damage andbleeding in their ears and around their brains.
The researchers decided that the whales had suffered from tissuedamage caused by an extremely loud noise The researchers atfirst thought that some natural event had caused the sound.However, the incidents happened at the same time that the UnitedStates Navy was testing an underwater listening device in the area.The device created an extremely loud sound in the ocean.
Sound moves more effectively through water than it does throughair Sound is measured in decibels Sounds that measure one-hundred-eighty decibels can cause tissue damage in oceananimals The Navy's tests created sounds of about two-hundred-thirty decibels These sounds were one-hundred-thousand timeslouder than the level required to cause harm to ocean animals.Scientists are not sure if the whales were killed by the sounds or ifthe sound-related injuries damaged their ability to swim safely TheNavy and the National Marine Fisheries Service wrote a reportabout the incidents The Navy says it has changed the way it testsunderwater sounds It also says it will spend nine-million dollars tostudy ocean animals.
This VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT was written
by Mario Ritter.
Sumatran Tiger
The Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C.recently showed a new baby Sumatran tiger to the public for thefirst time Thousands of people are waiting in long lines to see therare animal He was born at the zoo September Eighteenth Onlyabout one-hundred-seventy Sumatran tigers live in zoos.The babytiger is called Berani.
Trang 29Indonesia Like all tigers in the world, they are threatened withdying out Fewer than five-hundred of these animals now survive inthe wild in Sumatra.
Zoo scientists examined Berani for the first time two weeks afterhis birth At that time, he weighed less than three kilograms Henow weighs more than ten kilograms Zoo director Lucy Spelmansays information gained from studying Berani will help zoo expertsprotect other Sumatran tigers.
The birth of Berani resulted from a scientifically managedreproduction plan for Sumatran tigers The National Zoocooperates with the American Zoo Association in this effort Otheragencies involved are the Save the Tiger Fund and the UnitedStates Fish and Wildlife Service.
Berani's mother is Soyono His father is Rokan The birth markedthe second time in recent years that the National Zoo haswelcomed Sumatran tigers Rokan became the father of threeSumatran baby tigers in Nineteen-Ninety-Nine.
For many years, experts believed Sumatran tigers belonged to alarger scientific grouping of tigers However, a Nineteen-Ninety-Eight study of tiger cells questioned this belief Researchers fromseveral areas of science made the study The magazine "AnimalConservation" published their results.
The study reported that Sumatran tigers are unlike other tigers.Blood taken from Sumatrans showed three genetic markers notfound in other kinds of tigers Zoos throughout the world since thenhave increased their efforts to produce more Sumatran tigers.
Trang 30Two other kinds of tigers once lived in Indonesia However, theseJavan and Balinese tigers have disappeared from Earth InNineteen-Ninety-Four, Indonesia developed a reproductionprogram aimed at saving Sumatran tigers in the wild.
Humans threaten the existence of these animals, as they threatenall tigers Increases in human population and agriculture haverobbed the tigers of places where they once lived.
Endangered Turtles Rescued
This is the VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT.
International environmental groups have begun transportinghundreds of endangered turtles to a wildlife protection center in theAmerican state of Florida The turtles were part of an illegalshipment of more than seven-thousand freshwater turtles beingsent to Chinese markets Wildlife officials in Hong Kong rescuedthe turtles last month from illegal traders in Southeast Asia.
The rescue effort is part of a plan to save freshwater turtles fromdisappearing Among the turtles are some of the world's mostendangered species They include the Asian Brown turtle, theblack marsh turtle, the box turtle and the painted terrapin Morethan half of all Asian freshwater turtle species are endangered TheYunnan box turtle has already disappeared.
Turtles have survived on earth for more than two-hundred-millionyears However, some of the best known soft-shell species areendangered because of a growing market for them in China inrecent years The meat of soft-shell turtles is especially popularamong wealthy Chinese Turtle shells are traded to supply thetraditional Chinese medicine industry Many Chinese believe turtleshells can increase sexual powers.
Trang 31do more to stop the illegal trade in turtles Hong Kong is a port ofentry to the mainland Chinese market.
Wildlife officials in Hong Kong say that the seven-thousand turtlesseized in the raid last month were worth more than three-milliondollars The turtles were crowded into small boxes Many of theturtles suffered from the cold, lack of water and disease Aboutfive-hundred of them died shortly after they were discovered.
Conservation International and other environmental groups areleading efforts to save the turtles They asked an American airlinecompany to transport hundreds of the turtles from Hong Kong to arescue center in Miami, Florida The turtles will be treated andrecorded by species and sex Then they will be placed in zoos andother nature centers In time, the turtles will be returned to theirnatural homes in Southeast and East Asia.
This VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT was written
by Cynthia Kirk.
Largest Cockroach Fossil Ever Found
This is the VOA Special English SCIENCE REPORT.
American scientists have reported finding the largest completeremains of a cockroach ever discovered The scientists say theinsect was about the size of a small animal They say it lived three-hundred-million years ago That is fifty-five million years before thefirst dinosaurs appeared on Earth.
Scientists say the fossil discovery could lead to a betterunderstanding of ancient creatures They say it also could helpshow how Earth's climate has changed over the years.
Trang 32Cockroaches also are among the most common creatures onEarth Scientists know about almost four-thousand different kindsof cockroach Only a small number of the insects are consideredharmful to humans.
Scientists found the cockroach fossil two years ago in a coal minein the state of Ohio It was found with the remains of hundreds ofother plants and animals Scientists say the ancient insect livedduring a period on Earth when the area was hot and wet They sayextremely dry weather was beginning to dry out the wetlands.
Cary Easterday is a graduate student at Ohio State University inColumbus He was among the scientists who found the fossil Hesaid that scientists normally only hope to find fossils of shell andbones That is because shell and bones have minerals thatincrease their chances of being protected He said somethingunusual about the chemistry of the ancient area protectedcreatures without shells or bones.
The ancient cockroach was nine centimeters long It waspreserved in great detail The remains of the insect's legs, mouthparts and wings are easy to see Mr Easterday presented hisfindings at a meeting of the Geological Society of America Thegroup met earlier this month in Boston, Massachusetts.
Mr Easterday compared the fossil to modern cockroaches Theancient insect was about two times as big as the averageAmerican cockroach However, some cockroaches that live inwarmer climates are even larger They grow to a length of thirteencentimeters The smallest known cockroaches are only a little morethan one centimeter long.
This VOA Special English SCIENCE REPORT was written by
George Grow.
Baby Elephant
Trang 33People in Washington, DC, are celebrating a new arrival.
An Asian elephant was born November twenty-fifth at theSmithsonian National Zoological Park.
The baby elephant weighed almost one-hundred-fifty kilograms.Zoo officials named him Kandula (KAHN-du-lah), which meansstrength in Sinhalese.
Kandula took his first steps just minutes after being born NationalZoo officials and other animal experts are carefully watching hisdevelopment.
The baby elephant was born to Shanthi, a twenty-five-year oldAsian elephant at the Zoo.
Shanthi never met her baby's father She became pregnant as aresult of a process called artificial insemination.
Doctors used reproductive fluid from Calvin, a thirteen-year-oldAsian elephant from a zoo in Calgary, Canada They placed thefluid in Shanthi's reproductive organs Shanthi's pregnancy lastedtwenty-two months Kandula is only the fifth elephant in the worldto be produced by artificial insemination.
Scientists had attempted artificial insemination in elephants formore than twenty years with no success Then, in Nineteen-Ninety-Five, three German scientists developed a successful method Itinvolves ultrasound technology and a pipe-like device called acatheter.
Shanthi was the first elephant to be artificially inseminated by theGerman team She became pregnant after six attempts.
Trang 34Blood tests last February identified her most fertile days Afterartificial insemination, Shanthi's blood was examined weekly Aftertwelve weeks, an ultrasound test confirmed the suspectedpregnancy.
Doctors closely watched her pregnancy Blood tests helped thedoctors and Zoo officials to identify exactly when to expect thebirth This gave everyone time to prepare for the birthing processand the new arrival.
National Zoo Director Lucy Spelman notes that very few elephantsare born in zoos each year She says Kandula's birth is a veryspecial event She also says the birth marks the beginning ofefforts to increase the elephant population at the National Zoo.
This VOA Special English SCIENCE REPORT was written by
George Grow.
Smallest Lizard
This is the VOA Special English SCIENCE REPORT.
American scientists say they have discovered the world's smallestlizard The little reptile is only about sixteen millimeters long Thescientists found it on a small island in the Caribbean Sea near theDominican Republic The Caribbean Journal of Science publishedthe findings.
Pennsylvania State University scientist Blair Hedges and RichardThomas of the University of Puerto Rico made the discovery Theyfound small groups of the new kind of lizard on Beata Island in theDominican Republic The lizards live in the Jaragua National Park,an area created for the protection of wildlife The creatures werefound underground in a forest that was partly destroyed.
Trang 35twenty-three-thousand kinds of reptiles, birds and mammals known toscientists.
The scientists named the new lizard Sphaerodactylus ariasae.They named the creature in honor of Yvonne Arias, anenvironmental activist in the Dominican Republic She leads anorganization that was established to protect wildlife in the JaraguaNational Park.
The lizard is just one of several very small creatures found in theCaribbean The area is home to the smallest frog in North Americaand the world's smallest bird and snake.
Biologists have studied the area in the Caribbean for hundreds ofyears But until now, they did not know that this species of lizardexisted The scientists say their discovery shows that scientists stilldo not know everything about Earth's many creatures.
Mr Hedges says the environment that the lizard needs to survive isdisappearing quickly He says the lizards and other creatures willdisappear if their forests are destroyed People are cutting downtrees in the national parks for farming and for fuel Economicproblems and a lack of law enforcement are partly to blame for theloss of forests in the Caribbean area.
Mr Hedges says the destruction of the environment is the majorthreat to plants and animals around the world He says theCaribbean has an usually high percentage of endangered speciesthat live nowhere else in the world.
This VOA Special English SCIENCE REPORT was written by
George Grow.
Orcas Threatened
This is the VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT.
Trang 36These huge black and white sea creatures spend summers nearthe San Juan Islands near the state of Washington Six years ago,ninety-nine orcas swam there Today, only seventy-eight orcassurvive During the past year alone, seven whales died.
This group of whales is called the southern population of orcas.Federal officials will decide next year if they should be officiallylisted as in danger of disappearing from Earth.
Orcas can grow longer than nine meters and weigh up to ninemetric tons They are sometimes called killer whales However,they are not especially aggressive.
Millions of healthy orcas live in the world, many in cold waters.However, researchers say humans and a disappearing food supplyare threatening the existence of the southern population of Orcas.Southern population orcas live in three groups, called pods Eachorca has its own markings So scientists can identify eachindividual orca in the southern population.
Each May through October, visitors crowd into boats to follow thewhales The whale-watching industry is worth tens of millions ofdollars a year But scientists believe these whale-watching boatsmay be harming the orcas The boats may be polluting the water.And the noise from the engines may be interfering with how orcascommunicate with each other Some experts say blocking the callof the whale interferes with its reproduction and eating.
Orcas mainly eat salmon Some kinds of this fish are also indanger of dying out So the whales eat fish that live near thebottom of the ocean Such fish are more likely to contain industrialwaste chemicals called P-C-B's.
Trang 37Scientists are working hard to find ways to keep these huge seaanimals from disappearing from Earth.
This VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT was written
by Jerilyn Watson.
Earth's Magnetic Field Helps Turtles
This is the VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT.
American scientists have found strong evidence that baby seaturtles are born with the ability to recognize and measure Earth'smagnetic fields They found that the sea turtles use the magneticfields to guide them as they swim great distances across theocean.
Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill did theresearch Science magazine reported the findings.
The scientists say the baby sea turtle is one of the great wondersof the animal world Baby turtles swim directly to the open seashortly after breaking out of their eggs The young turtles followcomplex paths that often lead across large areas of seeminglyendless ocean Baby sea turtles swim across the Atlantic Oceanand back all by themselves People have wondered for years howthey do this.
The longest and most surprising trips are made by youngloggerhead turtles Young loggerheads in the North Atlantic Oceanswim more than fifteen-thousand kilometers across the oceanbefore returning to the North American coast.
Trang 38The scientists wanted to find out if baby loggerhead turtles couldrecognize the magnetic fields in different parts of the North Atlanticgyre They used turtles that had never been at sea before Theyplaced the turtles in a container filled with saltwater They put wiresaround the container The wires produced magnetic fields similar tothose found in different parts of the gyre.
Whenever the turtles were in a magnetic field like that found in theocean, they swam in a direction that would keep them in the warmcurrent.
One of the scientists, Kenneth Lohmann, says the findings providedirect evidence that turtles can use Earth's magnetic fields asmarkers He says similar systems might exist in other oceancreatures and even some birds.
This VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT was written
by George Grow.
Bats
This is the VOA Special English SCIENCE REPORT.
Many people fear the small flying animals called bats There arestories about bats attacking people and drinking human blood.However, bats are not a threat to people In fact, they are animportant part of our environment.
Bats are mammals, just like humans There are about one-thousand different kinds of bats in the world Some weigh less thanten grams Yet the largest bats are almost two meters long whentheir wings are extended.
Most people think bats are rare That is because they hide duringthe day and are active only at night However, bats can be found inalmost every part of the world.
Trang 39changes in weather Unlike other animals, their bodies aredesigned to hang upside down This is the best position for them totake flight suddenly.
Bats are the only mammals that can really fly Their wing structure,bones and muscles help them to move quickly This helps bats intheir search for food.
Some bats use a guidance system called echolocation to movearound in the dark The creatures produce a series of noisesthrough their mouth or nose They can judge their distance from anobject by the time it takes for the sound to return.
Most bats eat insects Bats provide one of the most effectivecontrols on insect populations A single, small, brown bat can catchmore than one-thousand insects in just one hour Twenty-millionbats live in Bracken Cave in the western American state of Texas.They eat about two-hundred tons of insects every night.
Some bats eat fruit As they fly, they spread seeds through forestsand deserts Other bats like to eat pollen on plants They help tomake new plants by spreading pollen from flower to flower A fewbats eat meat They catch small frogs, birds or fish.
No report about bats is complete without a discussion of vampirebats Three kinds of vampire bats feed on blood They live in partsof Central and South America These bats feed mainly on theblood of birds, farm animals and wild animals They rarely attackpeople The bats bite their victims and drink the blood, usuallywhile the animal is sleeping The harm from such bites comes notfrom the amount of blood lost, but from any resulting infection.
This VOA Special English SCIENCE REPORT was written by
George Grow.
Elephant Relocation
Trang 40South Africa has begun an effort to move one-thousand elephantsto nearby Mozambique The operation is designed to reduce theelephant population in South Africa's famous Kruger National Park.Kruger is home to many different kinds of wildlife, including rhinos,buffalo, lions and leopards It also has about nine-thousandelephants Before the relocation plan, environmental officials hadconsidered killing the elephants to reduce the population However,they feared opposition by animal protection groups.
The move is part of a plan to create a huge wildlife park withoutborders The park will include Kruger National Park, a similar areain Mozambique and Gonarezhou Park in Zimbabwe The threecountries signed an international agreement last year to create thewildlife park It will be the first wildlife park to be established inthree countries.
A South African environmental official said the park is the mostimportant animal protection project in the world today Officials saythe park will be a reality when there is free movement of visitorsand animals across the borders.
The park has been named the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park Itwill be one of the world's largest protected areas for wildlife It willcover thirty-five-thousand square kilometers of land It is expectedto have many visitors when it opens next year.
Officials say it will take about three years to move the elephants.Most of the elephant population in Mozambique was destroyedduring a civil war in the country that ended in Nineteen-Ninety-Two.Mozambique once had one of the world's fastest growingeconomies However, it suffered terrible floods last year It remainsone of the world's poorest countries.