VOA慢速英语 科学家称北冰洋冰面继续缩减

　　Laurence Frank is a lion expert with the University of California at Berkeley. He says up to seventy-five wild Kenyan lions may have died this way during the past five years. Professor Frank heads the Living with Lions group.

　　In reaction to protests, the manufacturer of Furadan stopped all sales of it in Kenya. But environmental activists worry that the pesticide is already in stores and people's homes. Farmers use it to protect crops from insects, worms and mites.

　　VOICE ONE:

　　African lions are also threatened by human expansion into areas that once were wild lion country. Other enemies are hunters who kill lions for their body parts. The parts are then used in traditional medicines and souvenirs.

　　And, diseases sometimes kill large numbers of lions. Infectious animal tuberculosis, for example, has established itself as a threat to lions in southern Africa. Researchers also blame long periods of dry weather and heavy rain. Some scientists say climate change makes this worse.

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　　VOICE TWO:

　　This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Jerilyn Watson and Brianna Blake, who was also our producer. I'm Faith Lapidus.

　　VOICE ONE:

　　And I'm Doug Johnson. Transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our programs are at voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.