Why India Needs Its Dying Vultures(印度為什么需要瀕臨滅亡的禿鷹)
The vultures in question may look ugly and threatening, but the sudden sharp decline in three species of India’s vultures is producing alarm rather than celebration. and it presents the world with a new kind of environmental problem. The dramatic decline in vulture numbers is causing widespread disruption to people living in the Same areas as the birds. It is also causing serious public health problems across the Indian sub-continent.
While4their reputation and appearance may be unpleasant to many Indians. vultures have long played a very important role in keeping towns and villages all over India clean. It is because they feed on dead cows. In India. cows are sacred animals and are traditionally left in the open when they die in their thousands upon thousands every year.
The disappearance of the vultures has led to an explosion in the numbers of wild dogs feeding on the remains of these dead animals. There are fears that rabies may increase as a result.And this terrifying disease may ultimately affect humans in the region, since wild dogs are its main carriers.Rabies could also spread to other animal species, causing an even greater problem in the future.
The need for action is urgent , so an emergency project has been launched to find a solution to this serious vulture problem. Scientists are trying to identify the disease causing the birds deaths and, if possible, develop a cure.
Large-scale vulture deaths were first noticed at the end of the 1980s in India. A population survey at that time showed that the three species of vultures had. Declined by over 90 percent. All three species are now listed as“critically endangered”. As most vulture lay only single eggs and take about five years to reach maturity, reversing their population decline will be a long and difficult exercise.
印度為什么需要瀕臨滅亡的禿鷹
人們談?wù)摰亩d鷹可能看起來既丑又危險，但是印度三種禿鷹瀕臨滅亡對我們是一種警告，而不是一件值得慶賀的事。它向世人明示了一個新的環(huán)境問題。禿鷹數(shù)量的急劇減少不僅是這些鳥類的災(zāi)難對當(dāng)?shù)鼐用裢瑯右彩侨绱耍瑫r給整個印度次大陸帶來了公共衛(wèi)生問題。
雖然禿鷹的名聲不好，許多印度人也討厭其長相，但是長久以來，禿鷹在維護全印度的城鎮(zhèn)和鄉(xiāng)村的清潔方面扮演了非常重要的角色。因為禿鷹是以死牛為生。在印度，每年都有成千上萬的牛死去，而牛是神圣的動物，死后露尸戶外，任其腐爛。
禿鷹的消失使得以牛尸為生的野狗數(shù)量暴增，因此，人們擔(dān)心罹患狂犬病的病人會增加。由于野狗是狂犬病的主要攜帶者，這種可怕的疾病最終會影響當(dāng)?shù)氐木用??？袢∫部赡軅鞑サ狡渌?，未來會?dǎo)致更大的問題。
采取行動刻不容緩。所以，一個危機處理項目已經(jīng)啟動，目的是找到解決禿鷹問題的方法?？茖W(xué)家們正試圖確認(rèn)導(dǎo)致禿鷹死亡的疾病，如果可能的話，找到治愈該病的方法。
在印度，人們注意到禿鷹的大批死亡最早是在20世紀(jì)80年代。根據(jù)當(dāng)時的物種調(diào)查顯示，三種禿鷹的數(shù)量減少了90%以上。目前，這三種禿鷹都被列為“極度瀕危動物' 由于大部分禿鷹每次只產(chǎn)一只蛋，幼鷹需要大約5年的時間才能成熟，因此，若想遏制住禿鷹數(shù)量的下降會是一項長期的、艱巨的任務(wù)。