Animal obesity: Are pigeons getting fatter?
Are Pigeons Getting Fatter?
Are Pigeons Getting Fatter?
City pigeons in the street.
I saw a fat pigeon the other day. There it was, doddering about on a Bowery doorstep, looking all smug and content. The fat pigeon had a fat pigeon ass and a fat pigeon belly that spanned the width of two normal birds, and I tried to imagine how the fat pigeon got to be so big. I pictured the fat pigeon tearing into a Big Mac, tufts of all-beef patty and sesame bun flying into the air with every peck, until the fat pigeon&s face was smeared with special sauce. I imagined the fat pigeon annihilating a holster of spilled French fries, and to be honest the thought of it got me pissed. Fries are for people, not pigeons. I stared at the fat pigeon long and hard, and the fat pigeon stared at me.
I&m not the only one who&s been seeing . In 2007, fat pigeons swarmed into Liverpool, England, pecking and pooping and plodding about, and so upset the locals that the City Council brought in 10 robotic peregrine falcons . A high-fat, garbage-based junk food diet had given the pigeons "a scruffy, unhealthy appearance,& explained one city official. Everyone agreed the fat pigeons had to go.
Of course, fat pigeons may be only the beginning. If one embarks on a tour of animal corpulence, spiraling out from captivity to the wild, a seemingly growing army of rotund beasts rounds into view. At home the fat animals are well known: They are fat husbands and fat children, . Zoos and aquariums keep their own set of fat creatures in captivity. In 2008, for example, the dolphins at Japan&s Kinosaki Marine World grew , and were placed on a reduced-mackerel diet. A similar difficulty arose in a Shanghai aquarium when the
that keepers gave them fish stuffed with cabbage to help them slim down.
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Out in the country, some free-range fatties have sauntered onto the scene.
is a growing concern on farms. In Arizona, wild burros have ballooned into
thanks to carrot-proffering tourists. The Lake Tahoe area&s
are unusually paunchy. And then there are the rats. Are the rats fat? One scientific study in 2010 found that feral rats collected near Baltimore had . According to conventional wisdom, &wild& animals do not get fat. But is that truism breaking down for the &like &that live in and around our fat- and sugar-laden &toxic& food environment? Has the obesity epidemic escaped from captivity? Is the Age of Fat Pigeons nigh?
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Obesity researcher David Allison was on the team that identified the chunky urban rats. He and his colleagues also found signs of weight gain among captive populations of macaques, chimpanzees, vervets, marmosets, dogs, cats, and mice. For their study of vermin in the field, they reanalyzed weight data from rats captured in Baltimore alleyways as well as from rural rats trapped on parklands and farms between 1948 and 2006. The city rats had porked up more than the country rats, but both groups had probably needed to widen their burrows. I interviewed other rat experts who agreed that city rats tend to be huskier than their wild siblings, which subsist on bugs, slugs, acorns, and one another instead of half-eaten bagels and chicken wings. (, with no room to exercise and all-you-can-eat feeding schedules, are bigger still.)
Allison says he doesn&t know why Baltimore&s rats have grown so large. (He doesn&t know for sure they have gotten fatter, as opposed to bigger overall, since his study only looked at weight.) It could be the result of the well-documented , the
by predators such as cats, changes in light exposure, improvements in rat health (perhaps facilitated by the food supply), or some environmental toxin that is disrupting the rats& hormonal systems. Increasing temperatures might be another cause of rodent corpulence. A rat that spends less time shivering in the cold expends less energy. Scientists in Colorado report that shorter winters have given yellow-bellied marmots more time to forage and . (Climate change can work in the other direction, too: Sheep in the Scottish isles are
in the heat.) What about pigeons? Did Allison think the Age of Fat Pigeons was upon us? &[I]t would not at all surprise me if pigeons are more obese or fat than they used to be,& he said.
Different animals respond to calorie surpluses in different ways. Some species experience what biologists call && until late in their lives: As the animal takes in more food, it just gets bigger and bigger rather than storing excess calories as fat. Indeterminate growth is common among invertebrates such as earthworms and silverfish, but some mammals do it, too. A study from last year on crop-raiding African elephants showed that the well-nourished bulls got
than their pachyderm peers. All that extra food turned into pure tusker beefcake.
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Humans, of course, stop growing in adulthood, so excess calories are converted to love handles under the right conditions. Baboons are the same way. Duke biologist Susan Alberts studied a group that lived near a tourist lodge in Kenya, and got most of its food by plundering a garbage dump instead of wandering the African plains. Not only did some of the animals get flabby as a result, she says, but they got dental cavities, too, and
you&d see in a human case of metabolic syndrome. The scientists determined that the baboons weren&t getting sick from excess food&they took in the same number of calories as their wild-roaming brethren, despite a diet of discarded cake and pineapples&but rather they suffered from a lack of exercise. They did start having tons of healthy babies, increased fertility is the . The fat baboons are no longer being closely monitored, because the area where they hang out is patrolled by too many cantankerous wild buffaloes.
What did Alberts have to say about my fat pigeon? Did she think the global population of fat animals had reached an all-time high? She wasn&t sure. &If you went back to Egypt 5,000 years ago where they had lots of grain stored in granaries you can bet they had fat cats and fat mice and fat dogs.& But, she noted, &[W]herever there is excess human food, and humans have commensals, those commensals are going to be able to get fat.&
It might seem that birds shouldn&t get fat because they have to fly, but that is not the case. Many migratory birds get supremely blubbery in the days leading up to their big trip&some to . Adipose tissue weighs less than muscle, but it carries more energy, making it an essential resource for a long-distance flight. Pigeons don&t migrate, though, and despite their seasonal weight gain, birds tend not to be among the world&s top fatties. Research by the British zoologist Caroline Pond, author of , suggests that human beings are among the bigger lard-asses in the animal kingdom, neck in neck with notable porkers like the hedgehog, the polar bear and the great whales, the fattest of God&s creatures. (The whole point of whaling was to get at their lipids.) In general carnivores tend to be more prone to growing chubby, as fatness is an adaptation to an unpredictable food supply.
Pond may be the world&s leading scholar of fat animals. Beginning in the early 1980s, she began riding her bike around the woodlands near her U.K. home at night : hedgehogs, badgers, foxes, whatever turned up stiff. Zookeepers and farmers gave her corpses, too&camels, monkeys, brown bears, whales&and soon she had dissected more than 250 mammals. Her interest was the comparative distribution of adipose tissue, a topic most life scientists at the time were too dignified to tackle. In mammals fat depots surround most organs, but textbooks often showed them with the fat removed, as if it were not part of the biological picture. What did Pond think about my fat-pigeon investigation? How was she preparing for the Age of Fat Pigeons? Well, she didn&t really think pigeons got fat.
Pigeon experts agree. Courtney Humphries, author of the book , said she hadn&t heard of a pigeon obesity epidemic. Daniel Sol, a pigeon researcher in Spain, brought my fat pigeon flight of fancy crashing to Earth in an email: &Even in captivity, where food is not limiting, feral pigeons do not tend to get fat.& He said Montreal pigeons are bigger than Barcelona pigeons, even though Montreal pigeons have less food. He guessed the difference was . Karen Purcell with Cornell&s
suggested the fat pigeon I saw might have been fluffing out its feathers because it was chilly. Urban bird expert John Marzluff wondered if the fat pigeon I saw might have been a dominant male&a big stud. He did allow that my vision of the fat pigeon eating a Big Mac was not crazy, based on his work in crows. &Oh, they love Big Macs, French fries and Cheetos and hot dogs. Corn dogs are especially a favorite.& But urban birds don&t seem to get fat. Too many hawks and other birds to worry about. As the animal philosopher Rikki-Tikki-Tavi once observed, &.&
So my fat pigeon was a phantom. The obesity epidemic had not escaped captivity&. And if I ever see that pigeon again, I know what I will say: It was wrong of me to call you fat.新高一教材Unit_百度文库
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Normally when I pop in to see my parents, my mum bursts out of the house with a big smile. Not today. "Your brother," she says, "he's showered twice this afternoon. Does he know how much it costs to run this house?" Are we limiting water now? I didn't think the recession(萧条) had got that bad. My poor brother is a boomerang kid. Like 60 percent of guys immediately after university, he's back at home. Graduating ￡15,000 in debt and faced with unpaid internships(实习期) or low wages thanks to the flooding of the market with graduates, a lot of twenty some things simply don't have the necessary income or parental support to live independently. Three years after getting their degree, most graduates are still not earning above the average salary. They have a near 50 percent tax burden, thanks to student loan repayments and council tax on top of income tax and national insurance. Unless you have parents who can afford to finance what is effectively a second home for them, returning to the parental nest is often the only affordable option. The boomerang effect is becoming even more pronounced thanks to the recession. One in four of those losing their job during the downturn is under 25. Only 13 percent of final-year students have jobs. Home is the only place many are going: 111,000 16-29 year olds moved back home in 2008, five times the average of previous years. Boomeranging is bad news. It poses serious problems for parents' finances. They've already supported their children through university, topping up loans with handouts, averaging ￡12,300 in total, to keep twenty somethings afloat. Now their retirement savings are being eaten away by continuously dependent children. It’s bad for the returning kids too. Ambitious young people will be left frustrated, seeing their university peers from more wealthy backgrounds excel only because parents' money was there to support them through the initial period of poverty wages. Those living in rural areas are further disadvantaged by lack of access to cities where most new jobs are located. Half of all young people now feel they will not achieve their goals. Research by the Prince's Trust reveals that one-quarter of all 16-25 year olds are regularly down or depressed. And depression does not help self-motivation, the very trait needed to seek out job opportunities. 【小题1】In paragraph 1, the mother’s criticizing her son for showering too often shows _________. A．the price of water has increased B．she thinks her son is selfish C．her son is an economic burden D．she wants to have a shower herself【小题2】What is the boomerang mentioned in the passage? A．A person earning low income. B．A person who has heavy tax burden. C．A youth who cannot get parental support. D．A youth returning to parents after graduation.【小题3】According to the passage, which of the following does NOT contribute to the tax bill of most young graduates? A．National insurance. B．Income tax. C．Council income. D．Student loans.【小题4】Who is comparatively most affected by the recession according to the passage? A．Those who haven’t completed their university studies. B．Those who are supported through by their parents. C．Those who can have access to the urban facilities. D．Those who were born into the well-off families.【小题5】Which is the best title of the passage? A．Global Recession B．Boomerang Kids C．Unemployment Rate D．Falling Incomes
Normally when I pop in to see my parents, mymum bursts out of the house with a big smile. Not today. &Yourbrother,& she says, &he's showered twice this afternoon. Does he knowhow much it costs to run this house?& Are we limiting water now? I didn'tthink the recession(萧条)had got that bad. My poor brother is a boomerang kid. Like 60 percent of guysimmediately after university, he's back at home. Graduating ￡15,000 in debt and faced with unpaidinternships(实习期) or low wages thanks to the flooding ofthe market with graduates, a lot of twenty some things simply don't have thenecessary income or parental support to live independently. Three years after getting their degree, mostgraduates are still not earning above the average salary. They have a near 50percent tax burden, thanks to student loan repayments and council tax on top ofincome tax and national insurance. Unless you have parents who can afford tofinance what is effectively a second home for them, returning to the parentalnest is often the only affordable option. The boomerang effect is becoming even morepronounced thanks to the recession. One in four of those losing their jobduring the downturn is under 25. Only 13 percent of final-year students havejobs. Home is the only place many are going: 111,000 16-29 year olds moved backhome in 2008, five times the average of previous years. Boomeranging is bad news. It poses seriousproblems for parents' finances. They've already supported their childrenthrough university, topping up loans with handouts, averaging ￡12,300 in total, to keep twenty somethingsafloat. Now their retirement savings are being eaten away by continuouslydependent children. It’s bad for the returning kids too.Ambitious young people will be left frustrated, seeing their university peersfrom more wealthy backgrounds excel only because parents' money was there tosupport them through the initial period of poverty wages. Those living in ruralareas are further disadvantaged by lack of access to cities where most new jobsare located. Half of all young people now feel they will not achieve theirgoals. Research by the Prince's Trust reveals that one-quarter of all 16-25year olds are regularly down or depressed. And depression does not help self-motivation,the very trait needed to seek out job opportunities. 1.In paragraph 1, the mother’s criticizingher son for showering too often shows _________. A. the price of water has increased B. she thinks her son is selfish C. her son is an economic burden D. she wants to have a shower herself 2.What is the boomerang mentioned in thepassage? A. A person earning low income. B. A person who has heavy tax burden. C. A youth who cannot get parental support. D. A youth returning to parents aftergraduation. 3.According to the passage, which of thefollowing does NOT contribute to the tax bill of most young graduates? A. National insurance. &&&& B.Income tax. C. Council income. &&&& D.Student loans. 4.Who is comparatively most affected by therecession according to the passage? A. Those who haven’t completed theiruniversity studies. B. Those who are supported through by theirparents. C. Those who can have access to the urbanfacilities. D. Those who were born into the well-offfamilies. 5.Which is the best title of the passage? A. Global Recession B. Boomerang Kids C. Unemployment Rate D. Falling Incomes &
Normally when I pop in to see my parents, my mum bursts out of the house with a big smile. Not today. "Your brother," she says, "he's showered twice this afternoon. Does he know how much it costs to run this house?" Are we limiting water now? I didn't think the recession(萧条) had got that bad. My poor brother is a boomerang kid. Like 60 percent of guys immediately after university, he's back at home. Graduating ￡15,000 in debt and faced with unpaid internships(实习期) or low wages thanks to the flooding of the market with graduates, a lot of twenty some things simply don't have the necessary income or parental support to live independently. Three years after getting their degree, most graduates are still not earning above the average salary. They have a near 50 percent tax burden, thanks to student loan repayments and council tax on top of income tax and national insurance. Unless you have parents who can afford to finance what is effectively a second home for them, returning to the parental nest is often the only affordable option. The boomerang effect is becoming even more pronounced thanks to the recession. One in four of those losing their job during the downturn is under 25. Only 13 percent of final-year students have jobs. Home is the only place many are going: 111,000 16-29 year olds moved back home in 2008, five times the average of previous years. Boomeranging is bad news. It poses serious problems for parents' finances. They've already supported their children through university, topping up loans with handouts, averaging ￡12,300 in total, to keep twenty somethings afloat. Now their retirement savings are being eaten away by continuously dependent children. It’s bad for the returning kids too. Ambitious young people will be left frustrated, seeing their university peers from more wealthy backgrounds excel only because parents' money was there to support them through the initial period of poverty wages. Those living in rural areas are further disadvantaged by lack of access to cities where most new jobs are located. Half of all young people now feel they will not achieve their goals. Research by the Prince's Trust reveals that one-quarter of all 16-25 year olds are regularly down or depressed. And depression does not help self-motivation, the very trait needed to seek out job opportunities.1.In paragraph 1, the mother’s criticizing her son for showering too often shows _________. A.the price of water has increasedB.she thinks her son is selfishC.her son is an economic burdenD.she wants to have a shower herself2.What is the boomerang mentioned in the passage? A.A person earning low income.B.A person who has heavy tax burden.C.A youth who cannot get parental support.D.A youth returning to parents after graduation.3.According to the passage, which of the following does NOT contribute to the tax bill of most young graduates? A.National insurance.B.Income tax.C.Council income.D.Student loans.4.Who is comparatively most affected by the recession according to the passage? A.Those who haven’t completed their university studies.B.Those who are supported through by their parents.C.Those who can have access to the urban facilities.D.Those who were born into the well-off families.5.Which is the best title of the passage? A.Global RecessionB.Boomerang KidsC.Unemployment RateD.Falling Incomes
阅读理解。&&&&& Normally when I pop in to see my parents, my mum bursts out of the house with a big smile. Nottoday. "Your brother," she says, "he's showered twice this afternoon. Does he know how much it coststo run this house?" Are we limiting water now? I didn't think the recession(萧条) had got that bad. Mypoor brother is a boomerang kid. Like 60 percent of guys immediately after university, he's back at home. Graduating ￡15,000 in debt and faced with unpaid internships(实习期) or low wages thanksto the flooding of the market with graduates, a lot of twentysomethings simply don't have the necessaryincome or parental support to live independently. &&&& Three years after getting their degree, most graduates are still not earning above the average salary. They have a near 50 percent tax burden, thanks to student loan repayments and council tax on top ofincome tax and national insurance. Unless you have parents who can afford to finance what is effectivelya second home for them, returning to the parental nest is often the only affordable option. &&&& The boomerang effect is becoming even more pronounced thanks to the recession. One in four of those losing their job during the downturn is under 25. Only 13 percent of final-year students have jobs.Home is the only place many are going: 111,000 16-29 year olds moved back home in 2008, five timesthe average of previous years. &&&& Boomeranging is bad news. It poses serious problems for parents' finances. They've already supported their children through university, topping up loans with handouts, averaging ￡12,300 in total,to keep twentysomethings afloat. Now their retirement savings are being eaten away by continuously dependent children. &&&& It’s bad for the returning kids too. Ambitious young people will be left frustrated, seeing theiruniversity peers from more wealthy backgrounds excel only because parents' money was there tosupport them through the initial period of poverty wages. Those living in rural areas are further disadvantaged by lack of access to cities where most new jobs are located. Half of all young peoplenow feel they will not achieve their goals. Research by the Prince's Trust reveals that one-quarter of all 16-25 year olds are regularly down or depressed. And depression does not help self-motivation,the very trait needed to seek out job opportunities. 1. In paragraph 1, the mother’s criticizing her son for showering too often shows _________. A. the price of water has increased B. she thinks her son is selfish C. her son is an economic burden D. she wants to have a shower herself 2. What is the boomerang mentioned in the passage? A. A person earning low income. B. A person who has heavy tax burden. C. A youth who cannot get parental support. D. A youth returning to parents after graduation. 3. According to the passage, which of the following does NOT contribute to the tax bill of most younggraduates? A. National insurance. B. Income tax. C. Council income. D. Student loans. 4. Who is comparatively most affected by the recession according to the passage? A. Those who haven’t completed their university studies. B. Those who are supported through by their parents. C. Those who can have access to the urban facilities. D. Those who were born into the well-off families. 5. Which is the best title of the passage? A. Global Recession B. Boomerang Kids C. Unemployment Rate D. Falling Incomes
College graduation brings both the satisfaction of academic achievement and the expectation of a well-paid job. But for 6,000 graduates at San Jose State this year, there’s uncertainty as they enter one of the worst job markets in decades. Ryan Stewart has a freshly-minted(新兴的) degree in religious studies, but no job prospects.“You look at everybody’s parents and neighbors, and they’re getting laid off and don’t have jobs,” said Stewart, “then you look at the young people just coming into the workforce… it’s just scary.”When the class of 2003 entered college, the future never looked brighter. But in the four years they’ve been here, the world outside has changed greatly.“Those were the exciting times, lots of dot-com opportunities, exploding offers, students getting top dollar with lots of benefits,” said Cheryl Allmen-Vinnidge of the San Jose State Career Center. “Times have changed. It’s a mew market.”Cheryl Allmen-Vinnidge ought to know. She runs the San Jose State Career Center, sort of a crossroad between college and the real world. Allmen-Vinnidge says students who do find jobs after college have done their homework.“The typical graduate who does have a job offer started working on it two years ago. They’ve postured(定位) themselves well during the summer. They’ve had several internships(实习)”, she said. And they’ve majored in one of the few fields that are still hot, like chemical engineering, accounting, or nursing, where average starting salaries& have actually increased over last year. Other popular fields have seen big declines in starting salaries.Ryan Stewart may just end up going back to school. “I’d like to teach college some day and that requires more schooling, which would be great in a bad economy,” he said. To some students, a degree may not be a ticket to instant wealth. For now, they can only hope its value will increase overtime.&49. The underlined expression “dot-com” in the 4 th paragraph probably means _____.A. a company making dots B. the InternetC. teaching on the InternetD. a well-known website50. The purpose of a college career center is probably to _____.A. help students do their homeworkB. find jobs for students while they are in schoolC. prepare students to find jobs after they graduateD. help high school students get accepted to college51. Ryan Stewart is probably going to _____. A. get a teaching job B. become a religious leaderC. change his major D. go back to school52. What does the underlined sentence “To some students, a degree may not be a ticket to instant wealth.” mean?A. Having a college degree does not provide travel discounts.B. A college degree doesn’t promise a person a high-paying job.C. Most students with degrees will be able to find jobs.D. The best way to get rich is to get a college degree.
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