Study Buddy (Challenger): Race against time to save South African penguins
This page is for students who want to take their reading comprehension to the next level with difficult vocabulary and questions to test their inference skills
African penguins are facing a dire situation, with their population plummeting to critically endangered status. Photo: AFPContent provided by British Council
Read the following text, and answer questions 1-9 below:
[1] Mashudu Mashau says it takes about two minutes to catch a penguin. He conducts this task weekly to investigate sightings of injured or sickly seabirds. “We don’t rush ... we go down, sometimes we crawl, so that we don’t look threatening, and when we’re close, we aim for the head, hold it and secure the penguin,” the ranger said.
[2] The small feathered animals are brought to a specialist hospital for treatment. Once caught, it is placed with care into a cardboard box. However, conservationists and veterinarians are worried that their efforts aren’t sufficient to stop the decline of the African Penguin, which was listed as critically endangered in October by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
[3] “No matter how much we do, if there isn’t a healthy environment for them, our work is in vain,” said veterinarian David Roberts, who works at the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) hospital. Fewer than 10,000 breeding pairs are left globally, mainly in South Africa, down from 42,500 in 1991, and they could become extinct in the wild by 2035, BirdLife NGO said.
[4] The dwindling numbers are due to a combination of factors, including a lack of food, climate change, disturbances, predators, disease, and oil spills. But the biggest threat is nutrition, says Allison Kock, a marine biologist with the South African National Parks. “So many of the penguins are starving and are not getting enough food to breed successfully,” she said. Penguins tend to abandon breeding when they do not eat enough, preferably sardines or anchovies. Authorities have imposed a commercial fishing ban on around six penguin colonies for 10 years, starting in January.
[5] But SANCCOB and BirdLife say the no-fishing zones need to be larger to have a significant impact and have sued the environmental minister. “Ideally, we would want more fish in the ocean, but we cannot control that. What we can ask for is to limit direct competition for the remaining fish between the industrial fisheries and the penguins,” SANCCOB research manager Katta Ludynia said.
[6] Being labelled “critically endangered” can be a double-edged sword. While conservationists are hoping to get funding, it also makes penguins more attractive to tourists who sometimes disturb them. “Penguins are very susceptible ... and the level of disturbance, [such as] people with selfie sticks ... it’s becoming more and more of a challenge,” said Arne Purves, coastal conservation and compliance officer for Cape Town.
[7] Tourism is a vital sector for South Africa, and each year, thousands of people visit the penguin colonies, bringing in millions of dollars in profit. For those on the front lines to save the flightless black and white birds, like Mashau, the spotlight has been a long time coming. “In the last five years, it was the rhinos … we hope we’ll get the same respect now and the same assistance,” he said. It is also about protecting the environment. “This is a species that is an indicator of a healthy ecosystem that humans are also part of ... and the healthier the penguins, the more humans also benefit,” he said.
Source: Agence France-Presse, November 18
Questions
1. In paragraph 1, why does Mashau crawl towards the penguins?
2. What is the purpose of capturing the penguins, according to paragraph 2?
A. to relocate them to a safer area
B. to collect data for research
C. to study their behaviour
D. none of the above
3. Based on your understanding of paragraph 2, what does IUCN’s listing of the African penguin as critically endangered mean?
4. Find a phrase in paragraph 3 that means “without success”.
5. In paragraph 4, the breeding success of African penguins is highly dependent on their …
A. food source.
B. their environment.
C. mating rituals.
D. water temperature.
6. What is the main point of contention between SANCCOB, BirdLife, and the authorities according to paragraph 5, and why?
7. In paragraph 6, what is the paradox of the African penguin being labelled “critically endangered”?
8. Based on your understanding of paragraph 7, why is tourism important to South Africa in terms of penguin conservation?
9. The phrase “long time coming” in paragraph 7 suggests that the plight of African Penguin …
A. is a recent discovery.
B. has been neglected for a while.
C. has always been a popular topic.
D. is a minor issue that can be resolved quickly.
Answers
1. to avoid startling them (accept all similar answers)
2. D
3. It means that that species is at high risk of extinction. (accept all similar answers)
4. in vain
5. A
6. SANCCOB and BirdLife believe that the imposed fishing ban is not sufficient to protect the African penguin population. They argue that the no-fishing zones are not large enough to have a significant impact. (accept all similar answers)
7. While the label draws attention and potential funding for conservation efforts, it attracts more tourists, which can lead to increased disturbance and stress for the penguins. (accept all similar answers)
8. Tourism is a major revenue source for South Africa, and the income generated from this can be used to fund conservation efforts. (accept all similar answers)
9. B