英語聽力：自然百科 肯尼亞偷獵狀況惡化

This is Kenya's Masai Mara, one of Africa's great natural wonders, filled with a wonder of life. But these days political unrest has scared away many tourists. And fewer visitors means less revenue to protect the animals that live here.

The nearly 600-square-mile reserve is funded by entrance fees and private donations. Last year thousands of people came to the Mara. Now, number has dwindled, hotels are shut down and workers are without jobs. And as Kenya's civil unrest continues, the Mara and its animals face an uncertain future. Teams go out every day to combat the threat of poachers. But with funds drying up, the reserve can't afford the man-power they need. Security patrols are being limited.

The worry is that poachers will fill the vacuum left by fewer rangers. This is Joseph Kimojino, he hunts daily for snares that either kill animals or leave them maimed and vulnerable to attack from predators.

“So when the num…, when the animal is going and then the snare may end up pulling the neck or maybe pulling it with its legs.”

Being caught in a snare and left to die is a painful, grueling death.

Bryant Heath, director of the Mara Conservancy says he has less money now to combat poachers.

“The biggest effect has been in a huge reduction in tourists, an almost instantaneous drop by 18 percent in the number of tourist. We rely on our share of revenue to maintain the park, to meet our expenses, to cover security and operational costs. So it had a huge impact on our ability to operate.”

This patrol manages to apprehend some suspects and scare off others. Back at base, the rangers discovered the men are not from Kenya but from neighboring Tanzania.

This suspect says he is a 48-year-old father of 8 children who needs to hunt in order to feed his kids and pay for their school fees. His hunting partner says he has 6 children to support. They both say they have no other way to make a living. The men claim this is their first foray into the Masai Mara, but the rangers don't believe it.

The suspected poachers are led away. They may face a prison sentence or a fine they can not afford to pay. Poaching is not a lucrative profession. The meat from an entire hippo would generate only about 100 US dollars. By comparison the rangers may be in line for a bonus. As anincentive, they receive extra money each time they apprehend a poacher.

Joseph blogs about his experience as a ranger. His blog gets more than a thousand hits a day. And readers in Japan recently contributed some 23,000 dollars in a single month. It maybe the reserve’s only hope in recouping lost revenue.

“I think we are on the edge of (the) crisis, I know that all of the wildlife management authorities in this country both private, such as the Mara Conservancy and the KWS are facing drastic cuts to their budgets to the point where clearly they don't have the presence on the ground anymore. Now how quickly this will be taken out. That they can stop poaching again remains to be seen. Hopefully the crisis will be short-lived and in the meantime we have to find ways of finding alternative funding.”

These days fewer people may be seeing this spectacular reserve in person. But perhaps through the World Wide Web, they will experience the Masai Mara and understand it needs global support.