# Elephant Translocation: answers and explanations

Cambridge IELTS 18, Test 1, Listening Part 4

Source: Recording, questions and answer key from Cambridge IELTS 18, Test 1, Listening Part 4. © Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Used for educational practice. Explanations and evidence notes are written by Testmigo.

## Answer key

| Q | Answer | Proof |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 31 | fences | Elephants were routinely knocking down fences around the park. |
| 32 | family | all belonging to one family. |
| 33 | helicopters | A team of vets and park rangers flew over the park in helicopters |
| 34 | stress | so as to minimize the stress caused. |
| 35 | sides | all the elephants had to be placed on their sides. |
| 36 | breathing | It was very important to keep an eye on their breathing. |
| 37 | feet | Measurements were taken of each elephant's tusks. ... and also of their feet. |
| 38 | employment | Employment prospects have improved enormously |
| 39 | weapons | many of them volunteered to give up their weapons. |
| 40 | tourism | All this has been a big draw for tourism |

## Why these answers are right

**31. fences.** The notes list problems caused by too many elephants, and the speaker says the animals were routinely knocking down fences around the park, which then cost a lot to repair. Knocking down is the damage, and fences is the single word the gap needs.

**32. family.** Groups of between eight and 20 elephants were moved, all belonging to one family, because relationships matter so much to elephants. The notes turn this into a group from the same family, so family fills the gap.

**33. helicopters.** The gap asks what vets and park staff used to guide the elephants. The lecturer says a team of vets and park rangers flew over the park in helicopters and directed the targeted group to an open plain, so helicopters is the answer.

The why and the trap for questions 34 onwards are free with an account on the [answers page](https://testmigo.com/ielts/listening/elephant-translocation/answers).

## Transcript

**Announcer:** Part 4, you will hear a zoology student giving a presentation on the process of moving wild elephants to a new reserve known as translocation.

**Announcer:** First, you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40.

**Announcer:** Now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40.

**Speaker:** For my presentation today, I want to tell you about how groups of elephants have been moved and settled in new reserves.

**Speaker:** This is known as translocation, and has been carried out in Malawi in Africa in recent years.

**Speaker:** The reason this is being done is because of overpopulation of elephants in some areas.

**Speaker:** Overpopulation is a good problem to have, and not one we tend to hear about very often, in Malawi's Majete National Park.

**Speaker:** The elephant population had been wiped out by poachers who killed the elephants for their ivory, but in 2003 the park was restocked.

**Speaker:** And effective law enforcement was introduced.

**Speaker:** Since then, not a single elephant has been poached.

**Speaker:** In this safe environment, the elephant population boomed.

**Speaker:** Breeding went so well that there were more elephants than the park could support.

**Speaker:** This led to a number of problems.

**Speaker:** Firstly, there was more competition for food, which meant that some elephants were suffering from hunger.

**Speaker:** As there was a limit to the amount of food in the national park, some elephants began looking further afield.

**Speaker:** Elephants were routinely knocking down fences around the park.

**Speaker:** Which then had to be repaired at a significant cost.

**Speaker:** To solve this problem, the decision was made to move dozens of elephants from Majete National Park to Nkhotakota Wildlife Park.

**Speaker:** Where there were no elephants. But obviously, attempting to move significant numbers of elephants to a new home 300 kilometers away.

**Speaker:** Is quite a challenge.

**Speaker:** So, how did this translocation process work in practice?

**Speaker:** Elephants were moved in groups of between eight and 20, all belonging to one family.

**Speaker:** Because relationships are very important to elephants, they all had to be moved at the same time.

**Speaker:** A team of vets and park rangers flew over the park in helicopters, and targeted a group, which were rounded up, and directed to a designated open plain.

**Speaker:** The vets then used darts to immobilize the elephants.

**Speaker:** This was a tricky maneuver, as they not only had to select the right dose of tranquilizer.

**Speaker:** For different sized elephants, but they had to dart the elephants as they were running around.

**Speaker:** This also had to be done as quickly as possible, so as to minimize the stress caused.

**Speaker:** As soon as the elephants began to flop onto the ground, the team moved in to take care of them.

**Speaker:** To avoid the risk of suffocation, the team had to make sure none of the elephants were lying on their chests, because their lungs could be crushed in this position.

**Speaker:** So, all the elephants had to be placed on their sides.

**Speaker:** One person stayed with each elephant, while they waited for the vets to do checks.

**Speaker:** It was very important to keep an eye on their breathing.

**Speaker:** If there were fewer than 6 breaths per minute, the elephant would need urgent medical attention.

**Speaker:** Collars were fitted to the matriarch in each group, so their movements could be tracked in their new home.

**Speaker:** Measurements were taken of each elephant's tusks.

**Speaker:** Elephants with large tusks would be at greater risk from poachers, and also of their feet.

**Speaker:** The elephants were then taken to a recovery area, before being loaded onto trucks and transported to their new home.

**Speaker:** The elephants translocated to Nkhotakota settled in very well, and the project has generally been accepted to have been a huge success.

**Speaker:** And not just for the elephants.

**Speaker:** Employment prospects have improved enormously, contributing to rising living standards for the whole community.

**Speaker:** Poaching is no longer an issue, as former poachers are able to find more reliable sources of income.

**Speaker:** In fact, many of them volunteered to give up their weapons.

**Speaker:** As they were no longer of any use to them.

**Speaker:** More than two dozen elephants have been born at Nkhotakota since relocation. With an area of more than 1,800 square kilometers, there's plenty of space for the elephant population to continue to grow.

**Speaker:** Their presence is also helping to rebalance Nkhotakota's damaged ecosystem.

**Speaker:** And providing a sustainable conservation model, which could be replicated in other parks.

**Speaker:** All this has been a big draw for tourism, which contributes five times more than the illegal wildlife trade to GDP.

**Speaker:** And this is mainly because of the elephants.

**Speaker:** There's also been a dramatic rise in interest from...

**Announcer:** That is the end of part 4.

**Announcer:** You now have one minute to check your answers to part 4.

[Practice Elephant Translocation](https://testmigo.com/ielts/listening/elephant-translocation)