|
Jerry made his way ___1___ the front of the crowd to
take a look at the
scientist. She was talking of a ___2___ called the
Galapagos Islands. "For a few million years, this was an island
inhabited ___3___ reptiles
and birds. ___4___ were few predators and no mammals.
Until humans
___5___ in 1535, the place
___6___ a paradise. When people
came
in their ___7___, rats escaped from the ships
___8___ the
island.
They ate a lot of bird eggs and reptilian infants.
Goats and cows were reared in the
___9___ to provide fresh meat for the
___10___. These
animals
multiplied and grazed the whole island bare."
The scientist continues, sounding fierce: "Sailors
discovered tortoises could
___11___ for up to a year
___12___ a half without food
___13___
water, and claimed that their meat ___14___ like
chicken. Tortoise populations
were wiped ___15___. Hundreds of thousands of tortoises
were stacked
___16___ down in ship holds. The females were especially
___17___
caught as they wandered down from the lush highlands
to ___18___ their eggs in the lowlands. As people
settled on the islands, their livestock and pets ___19___ wild, hunting the birds and young reptiles
fearlessly. These
___20___ threatened the survival of the natural
inhabitants of the Galapagos Islands." |
|
Jerry made his way to the front of the crowd to
take a look at the
scientist. She was talking of a
place called the
Galapagos Islands. "For a few million years, this was an island
inhabited by reptiles
and birds. There were few predators and no mammals.
Until humans
arrived in 1535, the place
was a paradise. When people
came
in their ships, rats escaped from the ships
onto the
island.
They ate a lot of bird eggs and reptilian infants.
Goats and cows were reared in the
island to provide fresh meat for the
humans. These
animals
multiplied and grazed the whole island bare."
The scientist continues, sounding fierce: "Sailors
discovered tortoises could
live for up to a year
and a half without food
or
water, and claimed that their meat
tasted like
chicken. Tortoise populations
were wiped out. Hundreds of thousands of tortoises
were stacked
upside down in ship holds. The females were especially
easily
caught as they wandered down from the lush highlands
to lay their eggs in the lowlands. As people
settled on the islands, their livestock and pets
ran wild, hunting the birds and young reptiles
fearlessly. These
actions threatened the survival of the natural
inhabitants of the Galapagos Islands." |
