一路“象”北

浙江 谭 贞

一群野生亚洲象从“老家”西双版纳出发，一路向北，“逛吃”数百公里的消息曾刷屏网络，引发了人们的疑惑和担忧。 众说纷纭，象群的想法却无人能知。 它们为何如此罕见地长距离北迁？

题材体裁 文章词数 建议用时野生动物 新闻报道366 7分钟

A herd of 15 wild Asian elephants that have caught global attention continue to enjoy their walk in southwest China calmly. It has been more than a year since the herd left their original habitat in a nature reserve in Yunnan Province. The reason why they left their leafy habitat remains a mystery.

The Wild Elephant Valley in the Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve, serves as a natural place for wildlife, a place frequented by Asian elephants.To evaluate (评估)the reproduction and living conditions of the elephants, the reserve set up an Asian elephant observation and protection team in 2005.

Team leader Ai Hanlu is one of the familiar faces for the migrating elephants, as his team tracks them almost on a daily basis. By observing the footprints of the elephants, he can roughly estimate where the herd is heading and warn the nearby villagers and tourists.

To better preserve the species and avoid possible human-elephant conflicts, Xishuangbanna set up an Asian elephant monitoring and warning center in Menghai County in 2018. Once the elephants are spotted, Pu Zongxin, 50, will send warning messages to online platforms through his phone, warning residents in the area to be careful. Thanks to the use of drones (无人机), now he no longer has to spend hours tracking the animals.

“I can roughly tell the places where the elephants have been and the food they ate from their excrement (排泄物),” Pu said. Pu said that he has noticed changes in the dietary habits of the elephants over the years. They used to feed on sugar canes and corn, but pineapples and dragon fruits planted by local farmers have now become their favorite.

In recent years, the wild Asian elephants have frequently left their protected areas and disturbed the nearby villages, which is viewed by some experts as a result of the degradation of their original habitats as well as changes in dietary habits of the species.

Though there seems slim hope that the migrating elephant herd will return to their original habitat in Xishuangbanna of their own accord in the foreseeable future, experts have noted that the environment is more unsuitable for the Asian elephants to survive as they migrate farther north.

Reading Check

1. Why did the Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve build the team in 2005?

A. To help Asian elephants migrate.

B. To catch people's attention.

C. To raise funds for wildlife reserve protection.

D. To study living conditions and reproduction of Asian elephants.

2. Which of the following words can best describe Pu?

A. Responsible. B. Generous.

C. Ambitious. D. Curious.

3. What do the wandering elephants like to eat now?

A. Sugar canes. B. Corn.

C. Pineapples. D. Bamboo.

4. What's the meaning of the underlined word “degradation” in paragraph 6?

A. Protection. B. Damage.

C. Repair. D. Migration.

Language Study

Difficult sentence

By observing the footprints of the elephants, he can roughly estimate where the herd is heading and warn the nearby villagers and tourists. 通过观察大象的足迹，他可以大致估计大象行进的方向，并警告附近的村民和游客。

【点石成金】该句中By observing the footprints of the elephants作方式状语，estimate和warn为并列的谓语动词。