英语听力文摘511 斑马能驯化吗？

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After all, domesticating zebras is nothing new. It's not? No. In fact, people have been trying to domesticate zebras for about a hundred years. So the zebra market has already been cornered? Not exactly. There is no zebra market, because zebras can’t be domesticated.

Why not? Compared to horses, zebras are pretty unpredictable. They can be very aggressive and even vicious as they get older. Plus, their body shape doesn’t take a saddle very well. Trying to train and ride a zebra is pretty dangerous.

So it's impossible?

Not impossible. Over the years, some zebras have been successfully trained, but as a group they just don’t lend themselves to domestication. Some animal trainers and breeders have created zebra hybrids, such as the “zorse,” a cross between a zebra and a horse, and the “zonkey”, which is what you get when you cross a zebra and a donkey.

That sounds likes creepy.

Yeah. So far there’s no specific purpose to creating zebra hybrids; they’re not stronger or more useful than regular horses and donkeys.

毕竟，驯化斑马并不是什么新奇事。不是吗?是的。事实上，近100年来，人们都试图驯化斑马。所以斑马市场一直处于窘境中?也不是。根本没有斑马市场，因为斑马驯化不了。

为什么?和普通马比起来，斑马相当难捉摸。他们可能十分具有攻击性，当他们变老时甚至变得凶猛。而且，他们的体型也不适合把鞍具装好。试图驯骑斑马很危险。

所以驯化他们是不可能的了?

也不是不可能。多年以来，一些斑马也被成功的驯化了。但是作为一个群种，他们不会让自己被驯化。一些驯兽师和饲养员已经成功的创造了混血斑马，比如斑马马——斑马和马和混血儿;斑驴——当你将斑马和驴杂交就可以得到它。

听起来让人毛骨悚然。

是啊，迄今为止，还没有特定目的要去创造混血斑马。斑马并不比普通的马和驴健壮或更有用。