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Hainan gibbons are the world's rarest primates. They only live in Hainan. Their daily life begins with the male heads of the five remaining families' high and beautiful whistling. It can reach villages down in the valleys which are 800 to 1,200 metres below.
Sadly, gibbons once nearly died out. With the efforts of the researchers, their number has increased from less than 10 in two families to 35 in five families.
Although gibbons can look at people curiously from a few metres away, it's difficult to follow the gibbons. The best way to follow the gibbons is by sound at present. Like humans, gibbons produce vocal cues. With the help of the advanced cameras, we will learn more about their lifestyle and the way they express feelings like joy, anger and sadness.
For the next six months, 11 researchers will work with other experts to study the information collected over the last year. Then they will finish a report on the voice characteristics of the gibbons, and try to explain their daily behaviour.
The database is expected to be completed in three years. It will play a major role in researching and protecting gibbons and other rare plants and animals. The project is the first of its kind in China. It's designed to follow all major rare plants and animals in a single protected area. Researchers suggested that we can explain not only gibbons' simple communication but also their behaviour in the future because of research into Hainan gibbon protection.
The growth of Hainan gibbon population gives the whole world confidence to protect the endangered primates in the future.
词汇
gibbon /'gɪbən/ n. 长臂猿 rare /reə(r)/ adj. 稀罕的,珍贵的
primate /'praɪmeɪt/ n. 灵长目动物 remaining /rɪ'meɪnɪŋ/ adj. 剩下的,剩余的
whistling /'wɪslɪŋ/ n. 哨子声;呼啸声 valley /'væli/ n. 山谷
vocal cue 声音提示
characteristic /kærəkta'rɪstɪk/ n. 特征,特点
database /'deɪtəbeɪs/ n. 数据库 confidence /'kɒnfɪdəns/ n. 信心,信任
句型
It's designed to follow all major rare plants and animals in a single protected area.
它被设计用来跟踪单个保护区内的所有主要珍稀动植物。
理解
1. How can the researchers follow the gibbons?
By sound.
2. What can we do to protect the endangered animals?
We can build protected areas, study their lifestyle and communication, and complete relevant databases.
