World News for Students of English

16-08-2022 07:00

Northwest of Paris, France, rescuers sadly euthanized a beluga whale that had spent a week in the Seine River.

During an unprecedented rescue mission to save the mammal, the 80-person rescue team sent a crane to lift the four-meter and 800-kilogram animal out of the water.

The distressed animal swum 100 kilometers inland, it refused to eat, and it became dangerously thin. During a transfer to the Normandy Coast, it had breathing problems, and its health worsened. The animal was obviously in pain; therefore, veterinarians decided to euthanize it.

The beluga whale is an extremely sociable animal which lives in groups of up to hundreds of whales. It’s a protected species, and it usually lives in much colder Arctic waters.

Difficult words: euthanize (to put an animal to death because it’s sick), unprecedented (never done before), mammal (an animal that nourishes its young with milk).

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