Australia lists koalas as endangered樹袋熊被列入瀕危名單

胡金瑩

澳大利亞環(huán)境部把東部沿海多地的樹袋熊保護級別從“易危”升為“瀕?！?。樹袋熊從不受保護到成為易危物種再到瀕危物種僅僅用了10年左右的時間，因此，保護樹袋熊勢在必行。

Koalas were declared to be endangered in eastern Australia. More koalas are dying from disease， lost habitat and other threats.

Earlier， koalas had been considered as a vulner-able species （易危物種）. Federal Environment Minis-try lowered their conservation status on the country's east coast in Queensland， New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. However， the government's Threatened Species Scientific Committee recommended that changes should be made because many koalas in Australia suffer from chlamydia， a kind of disease that can cause blindness or infections.

Australia has lost about 30 percent of its koalas in the past three years. In 2020， an in-vestigation warned that the species might become extinct before 2050 without immediate help. The number of koalas in Queensland has fallen by half since 2001 because of lack of water， fires and deforestation. Also， some are killed in attacks by dogs， or hit by cars.

“Koalas have gone from no?listing to vulnerable to endangered within a decade. That is a shockingly fast decline，” said Stuart Blanch， who is a conservation scientist with the World Wildlife Fund?Australia. He added that koalas will go extinct if new laws are not passed to protect forests.

The Australian Koala Foundation estimates that there are less than 100，000 koalas left in the wild or there may be as few as 43，000. The summer forest fires in 2019 and 2020 killed at least 6，400 koalas. Rescue workers tried hard to save them and treat their injuries. “There have been many pressures on the koala. The big fires， of course， were a tipping point. We know the koala is vulnerable to climate changes and diseases，” said a govern-ment official in Australia. She said the government is working to protect the animal and now vaccines are being given to koalas to prevent and treat chlamydia， and drones are be-ing used to study them and rebuild their habitat.

The government believes that listing koalas as endangered animals will bring attention to them and help address threats. However， some conservation groups argue that more has to be done to prevent their extinction. The Australian Koala Foundation has called for laws to protect them and prevent land clearing and mining projects that are destroying their habitats.

ReadingCheck

1. Why should koalas' protection status be changed？

A. Because their living habitats are quite limited.D1F06254-D527-440D-AAF7-DBE3A549AB70

B. Because they are unique animals in Australia.

C. Because they are easy to suffer from diseases.

D. Because they are the most vulnerable animals.

2. What does paragraph 3 intend to tell us？

A. Koalas are in great danger.

B. Koalas are a vulnerable species.

C. Koalas can't avoid natural disasters.

D. Koalas will probably die out in 2050.

3. What mainly caused the koala population to drop greatly？

A. Deadly diseases. B. The big forest fires.

C. Lacking enough food. D. Changing climate.

4. What measures should be taken according to the Australian Koala Foundation？

A. Listing koalas as endangered animals.

B. Making relevant laws to protect koalas.

C. Creating suitable environments for koalas.

D. Forbidding land clearing and mining projects.

LanguageStudy

Ⅰ. Difficult sentence in the text

However， the government's Threatened Species Scientific Committee recommended that changes should be made because many koalas in Australia suffer from chlamydia， a kind of disease that can cause blindness or infections. 然而，政府的瀕危物種科學委員會建議應該做出改變，因為澳大利亞的許多樹袋熊都患有衣原體病，這是一種可能導致失明或感染的疾病。

【點石成金】本句中recommended后為that引導的賓語從句，從句的謂語動詞用“（should）+do”構(gòu)成的虛擬語氣的結(jié)構(gòu);because many koalas in Australia suffer from chlamydia， a kind of disease that can cause blindness or infections為because引導的原因狀語從句;a kind of disease that can cause blindness or infections為chlamydia的同位語。

Ⅱ. Text?centered chunks

die from 死于（某種原因）

consider... as... 認為;把……看作是

suffer from 受折磨

chlamydia n. 衣原體病D1F06254-D527-440D-AAF7-DBE3A549AB70