Hello everyone! It's News Bites time again!

I'm Paz Bueno…

And I'm Nancy Sun.

In today's news:

A coral crisis in Xiaoliuqiu, and a tiny lizard is found after 50 years!

And in today's Tasty Tidbit…can you fold your tongue?

Stay tuned to find out if you are in the minority!

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小琉球的珊瑚危機

Xiaoliuqiu's Coral Crisis

Xiaoliuqiu (小琉球) is a small, beautiful island that's part of Taiwan.

It's just a quick ferry trip (渡輪) away from Kaohsiung.

The island has many names like Little Liuqiu, Lamay Island, and Lambai Island.

It's famous for its amazing views, warm ocean waters, relaxed atmosphere, delicious seafood…

…and the unique opportunity to see green sea turtles in their natural habitat!

它以令人驚艷的風景、溫暖的海水、輕鬆的氛圍、美味的海鮮，以及有機會近距離看到綠海龜而聞名！

But Greenpeace Taiwan is worried (擔憂) about the ocean life around Xiaoliuqiu.

They say the coral reefs and fish there (那裡的珊瑚礁和魚) are not doing well.

In August, some volunteers checked the island's coral reefs and found out they were in bad shape (狀況不佳).

The number of fish was also very low.

Usually, places with good coral reefs in Taiwan have around five to eight fish in each square meter of water.

通常，台灣有好的珊瑚礁的地方，每平方米的水裡會有五到八條魚。

But in Xiaoliuqiu, there's only about one fish in the same space!

The coral reefs are also sick.

Normally, a healthy coral reef should have lots of corals and algae (珊瑚和藻類).

But in Xiaoliuqiu, there are very few.

This means the coral reefs are not doing their job as homes for many sea creatures.

Why is this a big deal?

Well, if the coral reefs and fish are not healthy, it's bad news for people too.

Many people visit the island for its beautiful sea life, and some people even fish there.

If the corals and fish disappear, fewer people will come, and that's bad for everyone on the island.

Experts say the government needs to work harder to make the coral reefs healthy again.

專家說政府需要更努力地讓珊瑚礁恢復健康。

We all need to take better care of our ocean friends.

If they are happy, we are happy too!

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消失的澳洲小蜥蜴又被找到

Tiny Australian Lizard Thought Gone, Found Again

In recent years, many animals have been disappearing (消失) from our planet.

And sadly, it's often because of things people do.

From cutting down forests for buildings to polluting rivers and oceans, human activity has made it really hard for some animals to survive.

從砍伐森林來建造建築物，到污染河流和海洋，人類的活動讓一些動物很難生存。

This has led to what's called "extinction" (滅絕), which means these animals are gone forever.

But sometimes, there's a little glimmer of hope (一絲希望)!

In Australia, a small lizard called the Victorian grassland earless dragon is back!

在澳洲，一種叫做"維多利亞草原無耳龍"的小蜥蜴回來了！

People thought this lizard was gone forever because no one had seen it for more than 50 years.

But surprise, it was found again this year!

The lizard is small-about as long as a ruler (大概和一把尺子一樣長).

Scientists are really happy because this might mean other types of this tiny lizard could be found too.

One kind from a place called Bathurst hasn't been seen since the 1990s.

來自一個叫做巴瑟斯特（Bathurst）的地方的一種小蜥蜴自從1990年代就沒有被看見。

People are worried it's also gone.

A special group from the government is trying to help people learn about this and maybe find the Bathurst lizard too!

There are four types of this lizard in southeast Australia, and most of them are in big trouble (面臨嚴重的問題).

People thought there was only one type, but a scientist named Dr. Melville found out there were actually four!

Since then, a zoo has been looking for these lizards.

They have found one of them with the help of another company.

That was a big and happy moment!

The lizard used to live near a river and in places that are now part of a city.

But there are fewer now because their homes are gone or because other animals hunt them.

A zoo, a museum, and the government are trying to help.

動物園、博物館和政府正在努力幫助。

They are looking for more lizards and also starting a special program to have more baby lizards.

他們正在尋找更多的蜥蜴，還開始了一個特殊計劃來繁殖更多的小蜥蜴。

It's important to know about them so we can help keep them around!

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So, in today's News Bites:

Greenpeace Taiwan is worried about the ocean life around Xiaoliuqiu.

They say the coral reefs and fish there are not doing well.

Experts say the government needs to work harder to make the coral reefs healthy again.

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And,

In Australia, people thought a small lizard called the Victorian grassland earless dragon was gone forever because no one had seen it for more than 50 years.

But it was found again this year!

Scientists are really happy because this might mean other types of this tiny lizard could be found too.

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趣味小點

Tasty Tidbit

Can you fold your tongue?

Well, around 65% to 80% of people can fold their tongue in half… very easily!

But there are even fewer people who can fold their tongue into all kinds of crazy shapes. Maybe you can do it, too.

Now, there are still a lot of people who can't fold their tongue… but here's the weird part: Researchers think that around 10% of people who can't fold their tongue… can still learn how to do it in under thirty days!

So what's the lesson here? I don't know, but have fun!

If you have a fun fact, a joke, or interesting news you'd like to share with us, record your message and send us your Tasty Tidbit to [email protected], and you might hear it at the end of an episode!

We'll see you next time for an exciting new episode of News Bites!