3 . Volunteer at the EcoTarium! We simply could not offer the programs and special events that make the EcoTarium a unique resource to our community without our diverse and dedicated corps of volunteers. To be considered for a more specific position, look through the volunteer listings below, and submit an application.

Our zoo ambassador volunteers will assist the Zoology Department to connect with guests through engaging educational experiences about our animal residents. We are looking for volunteers who are passionate about animals and excited to interact with guests of all ages. Volunteers may also complete behavioral studies on numerous animals within the care of the EcoTarium to help enhance the welfare for our animals!

Animal care volunteers will aid in all areas of husbandry (农牧业), including feeding, cleaning, record keeping, training animals, and behavioral observations. They will work with a variety of animals under our care, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and insects. The position is physically demanding and requires working in all weather conditions.

Through conversations and hands-on activities, education program volunteers help visitors make meaningful connections to our exhibits, encourage curiosity and scientific inquiry, and challenge visitors to dive deeper into the concepts explored at our museum.

The EcoTarium seeks volunteers who are interested in making a contribution to science by uncovering lost specimens (标本) in the EcoTarium collection! Photograph, measure, and take notes on birds, eggs, seashells, or pressed flowers. This is an excellent position for a high school or college student considering a career in biology or lab science. It is also appropriate for citizen scientists of any age. It offers an opportunity to see examples of rare or extinct plants and animals.

Macquarie Island was a beautiful place where its native    1     (inhabit), including royal penguins, king penguins, and elephant seals, existed in harmony     2    their natural habitat for thousands of years. However, in 1810, humans arrived on the island with rats and mice. These small animals quickly took over the island，    3     (eat) the birds’ eggs and attacking baby birds. Cats were brought to control the rats and mice, but they also enjoyed eating birds. Meanwhile, the     4     (explode) rabbit population provided food for the cats,     5     ( mean) that the number of cats also increased rapidly.

5 . My PhD project is to protect a tiny species of fish, whose color is greenish. To ______eggs, Clanwilliam sandfish (沙鱼) swim to ______tributaries (支流) of the Doring river system in South Africa. Local people say it was once a ______event: The water seemed to change ______ as thousands of sandfish migrated to the shallower tributaries. Now, ______those numbers have reduced to dangerous levels.

My PhD project at South Africa’s University of Cape Town is in ______with a nongovernmental organization in saving sandfish. Human activity, climate change, etc, are drying up the rivers. As newly young sandfish try to ______to the upstream (上游), they now get ______in shallow tributaries. The sandfish population has decreased by more than 90% since we began keeping count. They’re now regarded as ______species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.When the river starts to dry up, we ______young sandfish and put them into buckets of water, then move them by truck to prepared fish nurseries (鱼种场) ______ by local people. The support from local people is amazing. Once the sandfish are large enough to be less threatened, we will ______them to the natural ecosystem.

The data so far show the project has been ______. We’ve ______ about 36,000 young sandfish over the past three years. I’m looking forward to ______those numbers next year.

8 . David lost his beloved dog Baya before Christmas two years ago. Baya was active and cute. David’s family spent many days _________ for their furry (毛茸茸的) family member. The kids said they wouldn’t want any _________ from Santa Claus. They just wanted to get their dog back. All attempts to find her turned out to be _________. Baya was nowhere to be found. It seemed that the family wouldn’t have any more _________.

Two years later, a homeless dog _________ alone on a busy road. Someone _________ it to the Animal Protection Association (协会). Thanks to the microchip (芯片) planted in the dog, the association was able to _________ the owner. They _________ David. When David got a phone call that they were going to get Baya back, the family were pretty _________.

Obviously, Baya is __________ to living in this home. She is quite __________ of where her feeding bowl is. Even though Baya isn’t the dog she used to be, David is confident she’ll become her old __________ again. He said, “She was a very healthy and __________ dog. She’s not like that anymore, but we’re going to get her back. Our whole family are taking __________ of her. Kids play with her happily. She’s __________ her joyful nature. We will love her even more.”

9 . My first dependant was a duck called Mr. Kite. As a cream-faced four-year-old, it was my job at the nursery to turn the eggs in the incubator (恒温箱) every day: one side “O”, the other side “X”.

We lived in a small, inner-city house with a long, thin garden in east Oxford at the time. As a gentle-hearted vet's (兽医的) daughter, my mum couldn't resist adopting these ducks. I named them Buttercup, Mr. Kite and Drakey. We made them a pond. The bottom was a mosaic (马赛克) made from all the bits of plate and cup that had been broken during family rows. Within 30 seconds,the pond was so full of duck droppings that we never saw the mosaic again.

One of the most magical moments during my caring for ducks was the night it snowed. Mum, over whelmed by pity and grandmotherly concern, insisted that Mr. Kite and her friends — yes, Mr. Kite was female — be spared another freezing night in the wooden house my dad had built for them at the end of the garden; we caught them, flapping and shouting, and brought them in to sleep in the kitchen.Have you ever seen three ducks go wild in a tiny kitchen? It was one of the best moments of my childhood. It smelled like the underside of hell's socks by the time they had left.

I used to spend my summers lazing in a swimming pool with Mr. Kite and the others. Eventually, though, our neighbour complained that they were being woken at 4:45 a.m.. So, the feathered three went to live with an old couple in the country. Fair enough — you don't move to the city to have the dawn torn apart by quacking   — although it must have made a change from student parties and the sound of 19-year-olds being sick by the bins.

I wonder now if this early experience of duck adoption is the reason that, at least three times a week, what ever the weather, you will find me swimming in the Thames or a nearby lake with the ducks. Although they never say hello.

10 . Once there was a dandelion (蒲公英) living alone by the road. It felt bored and sad all day as no one ever stopped to take a look at or talk to it.

One day, a mother was walking on the road with her baby. The baby was crying hard and loudly. No matter what the mother did, she couldn’t get the baby to stop crying. Then the mother looked down, and she found the lonely dandelion. It looked so lovely in the sun with its white seeds widely open, and more beautiful than other plants around.

The mother squatted down, (蹲下) picking the dandelion softly. Then she brought it up to her baby so that he could see it clearly. When the baby saw the flowers of the dandelion, he quickly stopped crying and looked at them with interest.

His mom put the dandelion near her mouth and blew the flowers up and down. The dandelion seeds then flew in the air, spreading far away with the wind. The mother gave the dandelion to her son. He didn’t know what the plant was, but he knew it was fun to play with, which made him giggle (咯咯笑) so happily.

Now the dandelion knew its value and didn’t feel sad. It lived a beautiful life just by being itself. It wasn’t as beautiful as other flowers, but it brought the child a simple kind of happiness that money can’t buy.

The dandelion’s story tells us that everyone is special and great. We can help others in one way or another. We’re far greater than we think we are.