VOA慢速英语 科学家称北冰洋冰面继续缩减

　　The antivenom that cures the bite of one kind of snake may not be effective for another kind of snake. And the medicines for a cobra bite in the Philippines may not work for someone bitten by a similar snake in West Africa.

　　Experts look forward to improvements in worldwide treatment for snakebite. But they say the best ways to reduce death and injury from snakebites are education and prevention.

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　　VOICE TWO:

　　Up to two hundred thousand lions lived in Africa twenty years ago. Today, fewer than thirty thousand lions live there, many in protected areas. But environmental activists are working to save the animals. And, the activists have some unexpected helpers.

　　Members of the Maasai people have stopped killing lions and now are protecting them. Maasai herders care for cattle, sheep and goats on the Mbirikani Group Ranch. This community-owned ranch is in southeastern Kenya. It covers more than one hundred twenty one thousand hectares.

　　Maasai warriors in their late teenage years, twenties and early thirties are called murran. The murran normally gain fame and honor if they kill a lion. But some of them now defend the animals and work to keep them alive. The murran are called Lion Guardians. They are part of a scientific and environmental-protection group called Living with Lions.