On an October morning in 2021, ornithologist (鸟类学家) Mark A. Michaels spotted a bird in a forest, which he first thought was a duck based on its size and long neck. But then he noticed it sometimes folding its wings during flight, something he says that ducks don’t do-but woodpeckers do. “Ivory-billed woodpecker (象牙喙啄木鸟)!” he shouted, certain that the bird was a species that hasn’t been clearly identified in the wild since 1944.
Michaels has had several possible ivory-bill encounters, but he couldn’t be fully certain. This sighting was different. “That was the first time I had been absolutely sure,” he says.
But not everyone agrees this woodpecker remains in the wild. In September 2021, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) put forward a ruling that would declare the ivory-billed woodpecker, along with 22 other species, extinct. However, the supportive data are debated. As a result, on July 6,2022, the agency gave the woodpecker an extension of six months before deciding whether to strip away its protected status (地位) as an existing endangered species.
This case highlights some challenges researchers face in determining whether a species has actually gone extinct. “It’s difficult to prove the absence of something,” says ecologist H. Resit Akcakaya, and so a lack of sightings is not necessarily evidence of extinction.
Moreover, there are costs to making the wrong call about a species’ existence in the wild. Continuing to classify (界定) an actually extinct species as endangered can misdirect financial resources away from protecting vulnerable (脆弱的) species to searching for ones that no longer exist. On the other hand, declaring something extinct when it isn’t can do further harm to a struggling species. “If we think a species is extinct, we no longer have to protect it,” Akcakaya says, “and then it may actually go extinct.”
In the case of the ivory-billed woodpecker, Michaels could do nothing but await USFWS’s ruling. But he was glad that the agency gave the extension. “I’m personally one hundred percent sure that it’s out there,” says Michaels.
32. What can we learn about the ivory-billed woodpecker from the first paragraph?
A.It was spotted many times. |
B.It became extinct in 1944. |
C.It looked a bit similar to a duck. |
D.Its wings were always spread during flight. |
33. What does the underlined phrase “strip away” in paragraph 3 probably mean?
A.Confirm. | B.Discuss. | C.Create. | D.Remove. |
34. What do researchers find difficult when determining extinct species?
A.Winning the trust of the public. |
B.Providing proof of their extinction. |
C.Deciding which species are valuable. |
D.Getting financial support for the research. |
35. What will happen if a species is believed to be extinct?
A.New protection measures will be carried out. |
B.There will be a huge waste of financial resources. |
C.The protection of this species will come to an end. |
D.Researchers will conduct further studies on this species. |