Kenting Crabs and Snakes in Pants

News Bites

Hi everybody, welcome back! It's time for a whole new year of News Bites! I'm Nancy Sun. And I'm Kelly Kimura. In today's stories, land crabs crossing, and snakes in pants. Let's get started! ________________________________ 墾丁封路保護陸蟹 Helping Kenting Crab Moms Why did the land crab cross the road? To get to the ocean to lay her eggs! It's a special time in Kenting (墾丁). It's the time when land crabs (陸蟹) have baby crabs. How does it all work? Many land crabs live in and around Kenting National Park in southern Taiwan. And every year, from around May to October, land crabs are very busy. Female land crabs hold many eggs on their bodies. And they need to get from land to the ocean, to lay their eggs. It's a very dangerous journey. They climb up and down over hills. They may cross rivers or streams. And most dangerous of all… They have to cross the road (過馬路). Every year, many land crabs are killed trying to get across the road. They get hit by cars and scooters. If they don't get help, the number of land crabs in the wild could fall even lower. So the park is running a special program. It's the "Stop 10, Go 10" program! It happens on Provincial Highway 26, at a section where many land crabs try to cross. There, the highway is 4 lanes wide. But during this time, cars may only use 2 of the lanes. 在台26線的這一段，路從原本的4線道縮減成2線道。 And the cars can use the road for 10 minutes. Then the road is closed for 10 minutes. It's "crab mode" on the highway! This is when the crabs can cross safely. Then, after 10 minutes, the road reopens again to let cars go. And when the cars are moving, there is a special lead car. This car drives in front, and makes sure all the cars go slow. This gives land crabs a good chance to get to the other side safely. But there's more! The park has also built special bridges (高架陸蟹廊道) for the crabs. These bridges go over the highway. It's another safe way for the crabs to get across the road. So if you're in Kenting, or know someone who is, spread the word!Let's keep the roads and beaches safe for our crab friends! ________________________________ 男子出奇招走私百條活蛇 Sneaky Snake Smuggler Caught Hey kids, if you had to hide a snake somewhere… Where would you put it? Definitely not IN YOUR PANTS right? Well, one man did just that. And he didn't just hide one snake in his pants… He hid over 100! This man is a smuggler (走私者). He wanted to sneak these snakes into China. He probably wanted to sell the snakes there to get a lot of money. The man was traveling from Hong Kong to the city of Shenzhen. He told customs officers (海關工作人員) that he had "nothing to declare" (沒有要申報的東西). But the officers stopped him. They checked him over. And they found 104 live snakes hidden in six bags inside his pants! Officers say each bag had snakes of all kinds of shapes, sizes, and colors. Most of the snakes were small. But that is still a lot of slithery squirmy snakes to hide inside your trousers! 海關人員發現這個男子穿的褲子裡塞滿了6個抽繩袋，裡面裝滿了各種形狀、大小和顏色的活蛇。 Most countries do not let people bring in non-native animals or plants (外來物種). That's because these animals and plants may be dangerous. They could be harmful to native animals or plants (原生物種). If you want to bring a non-native animal or plant into Taiwan, you have to get special permission. And wildlife trafficking is a serious problem worldwide. It's when people take animals from their natural homes, and sell them illegally. It's like stealing animals from the wild. This is bad because it hurts the animals, and can make some types of animals disappear forever. It's also bad for the environment, and can spread diseases. So let's all do our part and make sure animals stay safe in their natural homes! ________________________________ So, in today's News Bites: Kenting is running a special program to help protect land crabs. It's the "Stop 10, Go 10" program! Cars can use the road for 10 minutes, then the road is closed for 10 minutes. This is when the crabs can cross safely to get to the beach. ________________________________ And, Customs officers in China stopped a man and checked him over. He had 104 snakes hidden in bags inside his pants! He probably wanted to sell the snakes to get a lot of money. Most countries do not let people bring in non-native animals or plants. That's because these animals and plants may be dangerous. They could be harmful to native animals or plants. ________________________________ 趣味小點 Tasty Tidbit For today's Tasty Tidbit… Okay, summer vacation is over, and that's no laughing matter. But we're here to help you start school with a smile! You ready? Why do math books always look so sad? They are full of problems! And one more for the road. Knock Knock. Who's there? Noah. Noah who? "Noah more summer", it's time for school! And that's it for today's episode of News Bites! If you have a fun fact, a joke or an interesting news story you'd like to share with us, record your message and send us your Tasty Tidbit to [e-mail], and you might hear it at the end of an episode. We'll see you next time for an exciting new episode of News Bites!