World News for Students of English

06-03-2015 15:00

More than 120 cats are living and running wild over a tiny Japanese island giving it the nickname “Cats Island.” Tourists from around the country have been flocking to Aoshima even though there are no shops or any hotels.

There are only ferries twice a day which link Aoshima to the rest of Japan, but that hasn’t deterred cat lovers.

The cats were originally brought over to the island to deal with mice plaguing fishing boats, but they’ve since multiplied, as there are no natural predators.

In its heyday, nearly 900 people lived on the island, but over the last 70 years, the population has declined.

The cats are fed occasionally by tourists and some people who live on the island, but generally a lot of them have to look for their own food, eating crops at residents’ plants or anything edible left lying around.

In a bid to control the cat population, ten have been neutered so far. But humans are still a minority on the island, even with the tourists.

Difficult words: run wild (to not be tame and to be out of control), tiny (very small), flock (to come in large numbers), deter (to stop from doing something), plague (to be in large numbers and to cause trouble), heyday (a period of success and popularity), decline (to fall), edible (able to be eaten), in a bid (in an attempt or try), neuter (to castrate or remove the reproductive organs) minority (a small number).

Source: www.ondemandnews.com