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第一段
1 .Today we're going to be looking at the ecological impact of the feral camel in Australia.
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2 .As you know, a feral animal is one that survives in the wild even though it originally lived with people,
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3 .in a domestic situation.
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4 .Camels are not native to Australia,
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5 .so how did they get here or, more importantly, why?
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第二段
1 .The importation of camels began in 1840 and continued through to 1907.
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2 .They were brought here to aid in opening up the arid and semi-arid regions of inland Australia.
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3 .Initially they provided transport for people and goods involved in exploration or mining in the outback.
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4 .They were also used to carry equipment for the construction of railways and telegraph lines.
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5 .And often, they were the only way many remote settlements could receive supplies.
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第三段
1 .Where did they come from ?
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2 .Well, curiously enough,
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3 .from as far afield as China and Mongolia - that was the large, woolly,
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4 .two-humped Bactrian camel - and of course there were dromedaries (the typical Arabian camels used primarily for riding);
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5 .but most of them were fro,n lowland India.
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6 .These ones, in particular,
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7 .were very large and powerful and they were used to carry or move heavy freight.
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8 . What we have noware feral camels that are mixtures of. these different breeds.
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第四段
1 .Why are they feral?
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2 .Well, once the railways were up and running and motor vehicles were becoming more common in the outback,
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3 .they weren' t needed any more.
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4 .So, many of the 20,000 or so domesticated camels that were around in 1930 were just let go.
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5 .And because they were so well adapted to desert conditions,
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6 .they thrived and bred and spread right across central Australia.
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第五段
1 .What' s the problem? You might ask.
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2 .After all they' re just camels living in the desert.
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3 .The problem is that they are an introduced animal - a very large one at that - and they do extensive damage to the desert eco - system.
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4 .They wander up to 70 kilometres in one day,
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5 .grazing on whatever vegetation is available - that might be grass, shrubs or trees up to 3.5 metres high.
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6 .In times of drought,
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7 .when water is scarce,
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8 .they are capable of drinking up to 200 litres each in three minutes,
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9 .although if they're consuming a lot of green moist plant material,
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10 .they don't need that much.
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11 .They gather around precious water holes to get this water,
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12 .and the degradation of these water holes is of serious concern.
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13 .They are crucial for the survival of a wide variety of native animals and plants.
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14 .Many of these are now threatened to the point of extinction.
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第六段
1 .Let me also point out that these watering places have a long-standing cultural significance,
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2 .and many of them are sacred sites for the Aboriginal people.
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3 .Feral camels are literally trampling all over and violating Aboriginal traditions and history. In periods of extreme drought,
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4 .like Australia has experienced in recent years,
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5 .there is no limit to their quest for water.
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6 .Camels are big animals,and they go pretty much wherever they please.
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7 .They are not primarily interested in hurting people,
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8 .but it's not advisable to get in their way.
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9 .They have gone into remote communities and damaged domestic infrastructure such as washing facilities in laundries and bathrooms
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10 .as well as outside bores,taps and tanks.
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第七段
1 .Let's see: feral camels have a negative impact on native vegetation and animals,
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2 .water supplies, and Aboriginal and outback communities but they are no friends of the farmers, either.
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3 .They compete with livestock for pasture and they can wreck the farmer's precious property in the process,
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4 .knocking down fences, windmills and water troughs.
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5 .Camels also carry some of the same diseases as livestock and are likely to spread infection among cattle and other farm animals.
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6 .On top of all that, they cause a number of collisions with trains, cars and trucks.
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7 .Oh, and one more thing,
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8 .camels are ruminants,
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9 .which means they emit methane,
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10 .and they are having a significant impact on climate change.
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第八段
1 .Feral camels do have some value as a resource.
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2 .There is a small export market in camel meat,
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3 .and the pet meat trade uses them as well.
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4 .Although camels have a reputation for being stubborn,
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5 .and even vicious,
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6 .they are easy to domesticate once they are captured.
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7 .We don't use them in industry any more,
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8 .but sometimes they are used by tourist operators as a novelty form of transport for their customers. Even so,
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9 .it would seem their usefulness is limited and far outweighed by their overall -harmful - economic, environmental,
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10 .social and cultural impact.
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