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  3. Africa’s elephants are divided between the savannahs of eastern and southern Africa and the forests of central Africa. Some biol

Africa’s elephants are divided between the savannahs of eastern and southern Africa and the forests of central Africa. Some biol

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问题     Africa’s elephants are divided between the savannahs of eastern and southern Africa and the forests of central Africa. Some biologists reckon the forest ones-smaller, with shorter, straighter tusks-may even constitute a distinct species. But not for long, at the latest rate of poaching. The high price of ivory is increasing the incentive to kill elephants everywhere in Africa, and especially in places where there is virtually no law.  
    The latest reports suggest that the forest elephant population is collapsing on the back of rising Chinese demand for ivory. Some conservationists argue that a recent decision by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to auction 108 tonnes of stockpiled ivory from southern Africa may be prompting more poaching in central and eastern Africa, as criminals seek to mix illicit ivory in with the legitimate kind. But some economists maintain that the legitimate sale of ivory lowers prices, thus decreasing the incentive to poach. A study of a previous sale of ivory suggested it did not lead to more intensive poaching.  
    Either way, the Congo basin is " hemorrhaging elephants ", says TRAFFIC, which monitors trade in wildlife. The head of the 790,000-hectare (1,952,000-acre) Virunga National Park in eastern Congo, Emmanuel de Merode, reports that 24 elephants have been poached in his park so far this year. The situation is dire: 2,900 elephants roamed Virunga when Congo became independent in 1964,400 in 2006, and fewer than 200 today. Most have been poached by militias, particularly Hutu rebels from Rwanda who hack off the ivory and sell it to middlemen in Kinshasa, Congo’s capital, who then smuggle it to China.  
    Once ivory has left its country of origin, and if it is not seized by customs officials, it can be hard to identify its source and those responsible for acquiring it. But forensic help may be at hand. Scientists from the University of Washington are using genetic markers in elephant dung to identify exactly where ivory has been poached. This should help governments in countries such as Tanzania and Zambia, which are capable of catching poachers, but not in anarchic eastern Congo, where 120-odd rangers have been killed in Virunga in recent years trying to protect elephants and gorillas.  
    With an influx of businessmen and other officials from China engaged in infrastructure projects such as road building and logging, the slaughter is expected to accelerate. Forest elephants may survive in large numbers only in remote protected pockets of the Congo basin, such as the Odzala-Koukoua National Park in Congo-Brazzaville and Minkebe National Park in northeast Gabon.
According to the text, which of the following is correct?
选项 A、African countries are not capable of catching poachers.
B、Ivories are mostly smuggled to America and Europe.
C、Only in the remote protected zones of Congo basin can elephants survive in large numbers.
D、Poached ivories are usually sold as legitimate ones.
答案C
解析 综合全文考虑。选项A，要点在第四段，其中说了坦桑尼亚与赞比亚有能力抓住非法偷猎者，故这一论断过于绝对，不正确。选项B，文中说主要的走私目的地是中国，故也错误。选项C，根据最后一句，可判断正确。选项D，文中只是说拍卖会导致盗猎的象牙混在合法的象牙中，论断并非如此绝对，故也不正确。   
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