【明報專訊】A herd of cows stormed a supermarket on Lantau Island in early February (picture). It has raised the public's attention of the danger of humans feeding wild animals, which can cause serious problems of environmental hygiene and animal nuisance. In Hong Kong, such nuisance mainly involves the feeding of monkeys, wild pigs and feral pigeons (野鴿).

Take the monkeys as an example. Some people worry that the monkeys are starving in the wild and they want to help them by feeding. However, feeding the monkeys can make them dependent on humans for food and lose their foraging instincts. They snatch plastic bags, which they have learnt to associate with food from visitors, and are gradually losing their natural fear of humans.

Generally, monkeys do not harass humans if we do not offer food to them. We should not throw any food or objects at the monkeys. It is also suggested that plastic bags should be hidden away in a cloth bag or backpack to avoid monkeys' attacks.

sources: Ming Pao, nofeeding.afcd.gov.hk

■Game

What is Eason feeding the monkeys with? Find the answer from the following riddle!

"Throw away the outside and cook the inside. Then eat the outside and throw away the inside. What do you eat?"

■Quiz

1. Find a word in paragraph 2 which means "not having enough food to eat".

_______________________________________

2. Which of the following sentences is / are the reasons of avoid feeding wild animals?

(i) They would lose their natural fear of humans.

(ii) They would lose the inborn ability to forage.

(iii) Feeding wild animals is good to environmental hygiene.

a. (i) only

b. (i) and (ii)

c. (ii) and (iii)

d. All of the above

■English highway﹕human / human beings

"Human" or "human being" are countable, referring to "a person".

e.g. The monkeys show no fear of humans / human beings.

(Answers on next text)

■Glossary

nuisance (n) 滋擾行為

instinct (n) 本能

snatch (v) 搶走

associate (v) 把……聯繫起來

[Smarties' Power English 第240期]