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Saving the Antelopes On a freezing cold day in January 1994，Jiesang Suonandajie found what he was looking fora group of poachers who were killing the endangered Tibetan antelope. Jiesang knew he had to move quickly. He shouted to the poachers to put down their guns. Although surprised，the poachers had an advantagethere were more of them. In the battle which followed Jiesang was shot and killed. When his frozen body was found hours later，he was still holding his gun. He had given his life to save the Tibetan antelope.,At the beginning of the twentieth century there were millions of antelopes on the QinghaiTibetan Plateau.By the 1990s the number had fallen to about 50,000.The reason is simple：the wool of the Tibetan antelope is the most expensive in the world.It is soft，light，and warmthe ideal coat for an animal which has to survive at high altitudes.A shawl made from the wool (known as “shahtoosh”，or “king of wools” in Persian) can sell for five thousand dollars.For poachers the profits can be huge.,Often working at night，the poachers shoot whole herds of antelopes at a time，leaving only the babies，whose wool is not worth so much.The animals are skinned on the spot and the wool taken to India，where it is made into the shawls.From there，it is exported to rich countries in North America and Europe.The business is completely illegalthere has been a ban on the trade since 1975.But in the 1990s the shawls came into fashion among rich people.A police raid on a shop in London found 138 shawls.About 1,000 antelopesor 2 per cent of the worlds populationhad been killed to make them.,In the 1990s the Chinese government began to take an active part in protecting the antelopes in the Hoh Xil Nature Reservethe huge national park on the QinghaiTibetan Plateau，which is the main habitat of the antelopes. Over the next ten years about 3,000 poachers were caught and 300 vehicles confiscated. Sometimes there were gunfights，like the one in which Jiesang Suonandajie was killed.,But today the government seems to be winning the battle. The number of poachers has fallen. The small group of officials who work in the reserve are helped by volunteers who come from all over the country，and who are ready for the difficult conditions of life at 5,000 metres. Meanwhile，in those countries where the shawls are sold，police are getting tough with the dealers. International cooperation seems to be working. Since 1997 the antelope population has slowly begun to grow again.,拯救藏羚羊 在1994年1月的一个滴水成冰的寒冷日子，杰桑索南达杰发现了他一直在寻找的目标正在猎杀濒临灭绝的藏羚羊(antelope)的一群偷猎者(poacher)。杰桑知道，他必须迅速行动。他大声地喊叫着，要偷猎者放下武器。偷猎者虽然感到惊慌，但他们占着人多的优势。在接下来的枪战(battle)中，杰桑被击中身亡。几小时后，人们发现了他冻僵的尸体，手中仍然紧握着枪。他为拯救藏羚羊而献出了生命。,20世纪初期，青藏高原(Plateau)上有数百万只藏羚羊。截止到20世纪90年代，藏羚羊只剩下约5万只。原因很简单：藏羚羊毛是世上最昂贵的皮毛。它又软又轻又暖和是高海拔地区的动物赖以生存的理想(ideal)皮毛。一条藏羚羊毛织成的披肩(shawl)(名为“沙图什”，即波斯语中的“众毛之王”)，能卖到5,000美元。这对偷猎者来说利润是丰厚的。,那些偷猎者常常是夜里出动，一次就捕杀掉整群的(whole herds of)藏羚羊，只留下那些毛不怎么值钱(worth)的幼崽。这些被猎杀的藏羚羊被就地剥皮(skin on the spot)，羊毛被运送到印度，在那里，藏羚羊毛被织成披肩。然后出口到北美和欧洲的富裕国家。这种贸易是完全违法的自1975年以来一直被禁止。但到20世纪90年代，这种披肩在有钱人中间流行并成为时尚。在伦敦，警察在对一家商店的搜查(raid)中发现138条披肩。有大约1,000只藏羚羊约占全球总数的2%被猎杀而制成。,20世纪90年代，中国政府开始积极开展可可西里自然保护区的保护工作可可西里自然保护区是青藏高原的一个大型国家公园，是藏羚羊的主要栖息地。在接下来的十年中，大约有3,000多名偷猎者被抓获，300辆汽车被没收(confiscate)。有时，还会发生枪战，杰桑索南达杰就牺牲在这类枪战中。,如今，政府似乎正在赢得这场战争。偷猎者的数量下降了。工作在保护区的政府官员们得到了来自全国各地的、愿意忍受海拔5,000米以上恶劣生活环境(condition)的志愿者们的支持。同时(meanwhile)，在那些出售藏羚羊毛披肩的国家，警方开始严厉打击藏羚羊毛披肩的贩卖者(dealer)。国际合作也见成效。自1997年以来，藏羚羊的数目已开始慢慢增多。,WWF The WWF is the worlds largest organisation for nature conservation. It was founded in the UK in 1961 and opened an international office in Switzerland in the same year. Its aim was to protect the natural habitats of wild animals in danger of extinction. One of the founders，the painter and naturalist Peter Scott，designed the famous panda logo. The initials，WWF，stand for World Wide Fund for Nature.,Originally the name was World Wildlife Fund.Today the organisation has branches in 90 countries in all five continents. It has thousands of volunteers and more than five million supporters who help by giving money. Since 1985 it has spent more than $1,000 million on 11,000 projects in 130 countries.,The focus of attention has changed，too.In the 1980s the WWF became interested in all activities which have an effect on the environment，such as pollution and the way we use energy. The WWF believes that our world has a future only if people learn to conserve nature and not waste energy. As a result，it started working with governments to introduce environmental education into schools.,The WWF has worked with the Chinese government since 1980，when Dr George Shaller arrived to work with Chinese scientists on the panda project.For fifteen years WWF China staff had been based in Switzerland but came to China to monitor the project.Then，in 1995，the organisation set up an office in Beijing.Today there are more than thirty staff working on twenty projects all over the country.They include work in forests，energy，and in environmental education for Chinas primary and secondary schools as well as saving the panda，of course.,世界自然保护基金组织 世界自然保护基金组织是世界上最大的自然保护组织。它是1961年在英国建立的并于同年在瑞士开办了一家国际分部。它的目标是保护濒临灭绝的野生动物的自然栖息地。其中之一的创建者。画家及自然主义者彼特斯科特，设计了著名的熊猫标识。缩略词(initial首字母)WWF代表(stand for)“世界自然保护基金组织”。最初。这个名字是世界野生动物基金组织。今天，这个组织在五大洲(continent)的九十个国家里有它的分支机构(branch)。它有成千上万的志愿者和超过五百万通过募捐来帮助的支持者。自从1985年以来，它已经在130个国家的11,000个项目中花费了超过十亿美元。,关注的焦点(focus)也已经改变了。20世纪80年代，世界自然保护基金组织开始关注所有对环境造成影响的活动，比如污染和我们利用能源(energy)的方式。该组织相信，只有我们学会保护自然，不浪费(waste)能源，我们的世界才会有未来。所以，它开始和政府部门一起把环境教育引入学校。,1980年，乔治山勒博士来和中国科学家们一起从事有关熊猫的工程项目，从那以后，世界自然保护基金组织就开始和中国政府联合工作。15年了，该组织的中国成员一直住在瑞士但是来中国负责(monitor监测)项目。接着，1995年，在北京建立(set up)了分支机构。目前，全国有30多个该组织成员正从事着20个项目的工作。它们包括森林、能源、中国初等和中等中学的环境教育，当然还有救助熊猫的工作。,同学们,来学校和回家的路上要注意安全,同学们,来学校和回家的路上要注意安全,
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