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In Lockdown, London Zoo Fights to Survive

The London Zoo is one of the city's most-visited places. During normal times, it is filled with visitors – both young and old.

However as the coronavirus crisis continues, the zoo is once again in lockdown – meaning no visitors at all. No one to watch silly monkeys play in trees, dangerous King Cobras sun on rocks, or friendly penguins slide down slippery surfaces.

Besides that, the lockdown is causing great economic harm. Every month without visitors costs the zoo about $1.4 million dollars, Reuters news agency reports.

So, the future of the world's oldest scientific zoo is unclear.

"We are losing so much money," zoo employee Kate Sanders told Reuters, "I'm concerned the zoo might not survive."

Sanders is the team leader for big cats at the zoo. She added that having no visitors "has been a really sad time for the zoo."

Located in Regent's Park in central London, the London Zoo was opened in 1828 by the Zoological Society of London. Charles Darwin visited while writing his "Origin of Species." Queen Elizabeth II is the zoo's patron.

Ticket sales

But famous connections will not be enough to keep the zoo open with no visitors. The zoo has already faced millions of pounds in losses and the latest lockdown is again keeping visitors away, even during the usually busy school holidays.

The London Zoo was forced to close for 18 weeks in 2020, Reuters reported. That lockdown caused the zoo to lose 15 million pounds. The latest lockdown is expected to cost another 1.8 million.

The caretakers of the animals, the zookeepers, are sad and anxious.

The Zoological Society of London also owns Whipsnade Zoo, located north of London. Together the two zoos care for nearly 23,000 animals. All those animals need feeding and other kinds of care. So, the number of zookeepers cannot be reduced any more than it has already.

"We can't furlough animals," said Kathryn England, Chief Operating Officer of the London Zoo. "And you can't furlough all the staff who look after the animals."

"It just remains so sad that we are closed," she added.

England says there is another sad part to the lockdowns – not being able to educate and inspire visitors to the zoo.

One purpose of the zoo, England said, is "to inspire people about wildlife." As long as the zoo remains closed, the staff and zookeepers will keep trying to find other ways to teach the public. But, she added, "nothing really beats having people in the zoo and having a great day out."

I'm Anna Matteo.

重点解析

1.caretaker n.看管员

The caretaker, a bundle of keys hanging from his belt, was standing at the door.

这位管理员正站在门口，腰带上挂着一串钥匙|s@-yx=fbmh,66tr。

2.furlough n.休假

I have a furlough every three years.

我每三年休假一次Py[)hXS6e^,0wK7Zs1。

3.anxious adj.焦急的

I'm anxious that we should allow plenty of time.

我殷切希望我们能留出充裕的时间~|t]iK[oQkQ。

4.wildlife n.野生动植物

The area is rich in wildlife.

这个地区的野生动植物很多)6pZm4xshiqrP]。

5.The zoo has already faced millions of pounds in losses and the latest lockdown is again keeping visitors away.

keep away 防范

He is a dangerous person; keep away from him.

他是一个危险分子，离他远点vjyI1u]]NC!]03。

If you don't keep away from the dog, you may be bitten.

如果你不避开那只狗，你可能会被咬伤I]N(Q)]4i0mJA_A。

6.CAnd you can't furlough all the staff who look after the animals.

look after 照顾

I know the Lord will look after him.

我知道上帝会眷顾他的nUm^URXMkgtcpvU(nnW。

My duty is to look after the animals.

我的责任就是照看这些动物dO;vYk-ecv4z6pkZ|,sh。

参考译文

伦敦动物园因疫情封锁陷入困境

伦敦动物园是这座城市游客最多的场所之一VtD85rvs5pF。正常情况下，这里到处都是各个年龄段的游客m]xG&MShP8m=s3]ru。

然而，由于新冠病毒危机的持续发展，这座动物园再次被封锁，意味着无法接待游客F7D.eHrJ[w(。没人看顽皮的猴子在树上嬉闹，危险的眼镜王蛇盘在岩石上晒太阳，或是友善的企鹅在滑坡上玩耍6bnCR05qqUyNP!。

除此之外，封锁措施还造成巨大的经济损失G91QN70NkR=%HrS+。据路透社报道，没有游客会让动物园每月损失约140万美元#h)Bq-!ROgkj;[。

所以，这家世界上最古老的科技动物园前途未卜6[wT|Gnhdi2UKUO;E^。

动物园员工凯特·桑德斯（Kate Sanders）对路透社表示：“我们损失的收入太多，我担心动物园可能撑不下去了=c!X#w+4Q]-w;%#Q!q-。”

桑德斯是该动物园大型猫科动物组的负责人Dc1eWV#UfOHb~o(KV@Or。她还说，没有游客对动物园来说是令人难过的时刻IYRsIo0(i9sv0G9^p。

伦敦动物园位于伦敦市中心的摄政公园，伦敦动物学会于1828年开办了这家动物园1-pbVO1lp#[RDyva!+。查尔斯·达尔文在写《物种起源》时曾造访此地]@R1a40Rb=;+=]。伊丽莎白女王二世更是这家动物园的常客8N*8(d]Z%udg。

门票销售

但是这些光环也不足以让这家动物园在没有游客的情况下开放=a-&_M&4P|U!]RV。这家动物园面临着数百万英镑的损失，最近的封锁措施再次将游客拒之门外，即便是在学校假期期间的旺季J--c@32|+~~o-;#)8YV。

据路透社报道，伦敦动物园在2020年被迫关闭18周qI4|EYXwvz。那次封锁导致动物园损失了1500万英镑=ud8cg900)[x。最近的封锁预计还将会损失180万英镑*hS-=u=l_,ixX=#0v3。

动物园的管理员们既沮丧又焦虑Zgc]wk2G0]。

伦敦动物学会在伦敦北部还拥有惠普斯耐动物园_YbLT7=Os*NKkrG5A]7F。两家动物园共计约23000种动物nRIU]Jg2Bb-fmF)tB。所有这些动物都需要饲养和照顾Vo9mJz@N[UUvr,3。因此，无法再缩减动物园管理员数量S-z)=]1)7nv|Q&AsbIO。

伦敦动物园首席运营官凯瑟琳·英格兰（Kathryn England）表示：“我们无法让动物们休假,xo(9.kz;mpQgZFbQ。更无法让照顾动物的工作人员休假2X#xTzka!vTw7R%。”

她还说：“关于闭门谢客，我们很难过G_u~rs4R,jxDv5。”

英格兰表示，封锁带来的另一个不便之处是无法教育或启发动物园的游客x!@^Bi6L1AlwH+g_z9ng。

英格兰表示，动物园的目的之一是唤醒人们对野生动物的兴趣Pk9NEG8)K8ns)9。只要动物园保持关闭状态，工作人员和动物管理员就会继续设法通过其它途径向公众科普知识9dv9OQFbJV5.%rgl|B。但是她仍然指出：“没什么比在动物园度过美好的一天更重要了K=[S^AZ9#PhMXu。”

安娜·马特奥为您播报^.Praf4ee*Gv0D&D5@uW。

译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！