Cá sấu sổng trại tại Việt Nam

Lụt lớn tại nhiều nơi ở Việt Nam khiến hàng trăm người thiệt mạng và gây nhiều thiệt hại to lớn. Thế nhưng nay đang có một vấn đề mới phát sinh. Đó là hàng trăm con cá sấu sổng chuồng thoát khỏi một trại chăn nuôi sau khi nước lũ phá vỡ các chuồng nhốt.

The state owned Yang Bay farm in central Vietnam was home to around five-thousand crocodiles, until flash floods destroyed their cages at the weekend. The authorities don't know exactly how many of the reptiles escaped but they believe several hundred are on the loose.

Soldiers, forest rangers and villagers have been trying to track them down. Only eight crocodiles have been recaptured so far and three more shot dead. The first to be killed weighed two-hundred kilograms and took eight people to carry it away. Many of the escaped crocodiles are thought to have taken up residence in a nearby lake, and officials have warned people to be extremely careful and not to go swimming.

Crocodiles are farmed in Vietnam for meat and their skin which is still used to make handbags. The manager of the farm says he fears some local people will try to catch them so they can sell the leather. The floods - caused by a series of typhoons - have caused widespread damage in northern and central Vietnam, killing around two-hundred people since the start of October.

flash floods
lũ quét (do bất ngờ có mưa lớn làm nước dâng cao)

escaped
chạy thoát, thoát ra ngoài

on the loose
tự do

forest rangers
nhân viên kiểm lâm

to track them down
đi tìm kiếm chúng

recaptured
bắt nhốt trở lại trong chuồng, cũi, lồng

taken up residence
bắt đầu cư trú

farmed
được nuôi dưỡng, chăn nuôi

leather
da động vật đã được sấy khô

widespread damage
gây thiệt hại nặng nề