私醫聯招 英文歷屆試題｜第 621 題

In the past, demand for the birds’ beautiful feathers resulted in a huge amount of hunting. At the peak of the trade, in the early 1900s, 80,000 skins a year were exported from New Guinea for European ladies’ hats.  (21) , surprisingly few birds die for these costumes nowadays. Ceremonial feathers are passed down from generation to generation. Local people are still permitted to hunt birds of paradise for traditional uses. However, hunters usually target older male birds,  (22)  younger males to continue breeding.

There are more serious  (23)  to the birds’ welfare. Large farms use up thousands of hectares of forest where birds of paradise once lived,  (24)  large-scale industrial logging. Oil prospecting and mining also present dangers to New Guinea’s wildest forests.  (25) , human populations continue to grow. Land is owned by different local families whose leaders disagree about which areas should be protected.