Camels Rampage 骆驼横行霸道

By Jack Izzard, BBC News

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。

Background: 澳大利亚当局决定对一大批蜂拥而至的野生骆驼采取驱赶行动。多达六千头骆驼横冲直闯进入该国北部一个小居民区，践踏了民宅的篱笆，污染了水源，让当地居民吓得不敢出门。现在民众要反击了。

A dusty outpost in the Aussie outback, Docker River has a population of 355... humans that is. But in recent weeks thousands of wild camels have descended on the town in search of water. The result has been chaos according to the head of the local authority Graham Taylor.

''Water supplies have been broken and damaged, sewers under the ground have been trampled and crushed, the airport is actually virtually unusable."

A million wild camels are thought to roam the red, sandy plains of Australia's Northern Territory but a drought has made natural water scarce, driving the thirsty beasts to head into populated areas. In Docker River their overwhelming numbers have forced residents to stay indoors. Now the state government has authorised a cull. Rob Knight is a spokesman.

"Docker River is under siege by 6,000 marauding, wild camels."

We'll be pushing them out 15km and shooting them and letting them decay into the desert.''

Animal rights campaigners say using helicopters to round up the camels for shooting them en masse is barbaric but Docker's River human residents say they are determined to get their town back.