An ice treat for animals 给动物降温

Is it cool and yummy?

媒体英语会带大家一起学习 BBC 撰稿人在报道世界大事时常用到的单词和短语。

欧洲各地的热浪让人透不过气来。不过罗马动物园想出新招确保园里的动物舒舒服服度过三伏暑天。BBC 记者 Beth McLeod 有以下报道：

Code red heat warnings have been issued by Italy's health ministry, as a heatwave nicknamed 'Lucifer' scorches the Mediterranean region. But at the zoo in Rome, keepers are ensuring the lions and tigers stay cool by freezing their food in large blocks of ice. The animals have to lick through icy layers before getting to the joints of meat contained inside, like a giant lollipop.

Klaus Friedrich, the zoo's veterinarian, says making these meat-flavoured treats is part of their strategy to cool the animals down: "The animals get bored, like children, so they find new ways – how to prepare the ice. So sometimes you put the ice in a bucket of water, and you put a string inside, and you hang this on a tree or you hide it somewhere. There are different ways to give this food and these ice creams… So they like it a lot."

The smaller animals, like lemurs, are fed pieces of watermelon and special ice cream, while the monkeys are given bamboo canes filled with yoghurt and frozen fruit. Italy is suffering from its worst drought in ten years, caused by a high-pressure system that's bringing hot air from Africa to Europe. Spain is also sweltering, while the heatwave has fuelled forest fires in the Greek island of Chios and the north-east of Bosnia.