to lay an egg
to stumble upon
deceptive
to hatch
to peck
arse / ass / butt
blind
tit for tat
a) be lost, in danger, in difficulty.
b) lose badly in a game
c) very slowly
d) have an unresolved dispute
e) do or say something likely to cause a problem or controversy
f) They're going to create complications. It might be better to to not procede and leave it alone!
g) You shouldn't concentrate all your efforts and resources in one area.
h) Eliminate your competitors
Brazil has a huge diversity of creatures, especially in the Amazon rainforest, but every year thieves steal over 38 million animals and sell them as pets. The pet trade in Brazil is worth about $2 billion. Who is the animal trafficker, the vet and the police officer?
There are laws against animal trafficking, but it’s difficult for us to catch these guys, as they’re very organised. Animal traffickers work in large teams, including international contacts, motorcyclists and kids who warn them when we’re coming. The traffickers are fast – and smart too. They quickly send dead animals to markets where they’re sold for meat. Some animal parts are made into objects and sold to tourists (e.g. rugs from jaguar skins, bags from crocodiles and jewellery from turtle shells). We mostly try to stop the traffic of live animals. Usually they’re carefully hidden (in socks or bags) and transported by motorbike. When we catch traffickers, they pay a fine or go to prison for a year and then try again. I think the government should give them much stricter punishments and punish all the people who help them! It should also give us more officers, because right now we just don’t have enough.
Many Brazilians are unemployed, so we find other ways to make money. Colourful or exotic birds are the best. We can sell a typical bird for about $150, but a rare macaw can sell for $10,000. We send some animals abroad, but Brazil is the easiest market, because so many people in Brazil keep birds in cages. Exotic pets, like iguanas, monkeys and snakes, are popular pets here too. So don’t blame us! People want animals so we provide them. Besides, there are millions more animals in the jungle! The problem for us is transporting them. We have to hide them from the police. Since babies are easiest to transport, we usually catch baby animals. Then we tape or cut the birds’ beaks, so they don’t make a noise. We sew the mouths of iguanas and tie their feet. Bigger animals don’t fit in small spaces, so we break their bones. Sometimes we get caught, but instead of paying the fine we just bribe the police
When traffickers are caught, the stolen animals are sent to us at rescue centres. Our job is to feed and look after them (most animals are injured). We put them back in their habitat, but first we have to teach them to fly (or move) again and how to find food. Every year we do this for around 7,000 animals, but the problem never ends. People who buy exotic pets are part of the problem! They need to understand that animals shouldn’t live in cages. They also don’t realise that the pets can bring diseases into their homes. Animal traffickers destroy Brazil’s animal diversity, cause destruction of the tropical rainforests and commit cruelty to animals. For example, they cut down trees to capture the baby birds. Then they take the babies away from their mothers and their natural habitat. They hurt them on the journey (around 90 per cent don’t survive capture and transport). But traffickers don’t care. I think they should work in a ‘rehab’ centre for a year as a punishment, like community service. If they saw what we see, they would stop.
A
B
C
Look at this crime. What punishment would you give?