More than 350 elephants have mysteriously dropped dead in Botswana recently. Scientists said they seldom see a mass die-off that has been this significant outside of drought and described it as a “conservation disaster.”
Locals in the area witnessed the elephants walking in circles, an indication of neurological impairment. The Botswana government has not yet tested the samples due to the Covid-19 restrictions, so there is no information on what is causing the deaths.
However, elephants are assets of Botswana. The conservation disaster means the country has failed to protect one of its valuable resources.
友善讓你懂｜解說：
最近，在非洲波札那有 350 頭大象離奇死亡。科學家說，過去除了乾旱之外，很少見到象群如此大規模死亡，並說這無疑是一場「保育災難」。
有些當地人目擊到，大象像在「兜圈子」一般繞著走，代表當時他們的神經系統已經受到損害。不過，波札那政府至今還沒把屍體的樣本送去進一步檢驗，理由是「因為新冠疫情影響」，因此至今還無從得知象群的死因。
然而，大象是波札那的重要資產，而這場保育災難也代表該國在保護珍貴資源上的行動已然失敗。
輕鬆帶著走｜學習：
outside of 是「除了⋯⋯之外」，與 except for 有同樣意思。
例句：Outside of you, no one knows the secret. 除了你之外，沒人知道這個秘密。
本篇談到不少與死亡、災難相關單字，介紹如下：
姓名
國碼
手機