VOA今日美国2023 会看病、扫雷、缉私的非洲巨鼠希望得到美国公众的认可（在线收听）

Three zoos in the United States, including the San Diego Zoo, now have "hero rat" ambassadors, showing the abilities of the African giant pouched rats.

包括圣地亚哥动物园在内的美国三家动物园现在都有“英雄老鼠”大使，展示非洲巨鼠的能力。

A Tanzania-based organization that trains the rats provided them to the zoos.

一家总部位于坦桑尼亚的训练老鼠的组织向动物园提供了非洲巨鼠。

The rats use their sense of smell to perform useful tasks like detecting diseases and landmines, helping fight wildlife trafficking and more.

非洲巨鼠利用它们的嗅觉来执行有用的任务，比如检测疾病和地雷，帮助打击野生动物走私等。

Runa is the giant pouched rat at the San Diego Zoo.

鲁纳是圣地亚哥动物园里的一只巨鼠。

She was trained to find landmines.

她受过寻找地雷的训练。

The rats can detect landmines and explosive materials in former war areas in countries like Angola, Mozambique and Cambodia.

在安哥拉、莫桑比克和柬埔寨等国的前战区，这种老鼠可以探测地雷和爆炸物。

But Runa was a little distracted doing that job.

但鲁纳在做这项工作时有点分心。

Cari Inserra, a wildlife care specialist at the San Diego Zoo, said Runa is now doing well as a rat ambassador.

圣地亚哥动物园的野生动物护理专家卡里·英瑟拉说，鲁纳现在作为老鼠大使表现得很好。

Recently Runa used her sense of smell to find small amounts of tea that her trainers had hidden under dirt in a box.

最近，鲁纳用她的嗅觉找到了她的训练员藏在盒子里的泥土下面的少量茶叶。

Once she found the tea, she was given a reward of a pellet and banana drink.

一旦她找到了茶叶，她就会被奖励一粒食物和香蕉饮料。

"One of the most fun things to see is how she changes the perceptions of people," Inserra said.

英瑟拉说：“最有趣的事情之一就是看到她如何改变人们的看法”。

Nicki Boyd works for the San Diego Zoo and Wildlife Alliance.

尼基·博伊德就职于圣地亚哥动物园和野生动物联盟。

She said the zoo wants to show that rats are an important tool for fighting wildlife trafficking.

她说，动物园希望证明老鼠是打击野生动物走私的重要工具。

She said that the illegal animal trade, "is very destructive to the species that we are actively trying to save and protect in the wild."

她说，非法的动物贸易“对我们正在积极努力拯救和保护的野外物种具有非常大的破坏性。”

In March, six African rats finished training to find trafficked goods in a port in Tanzania.

今年3月，6只非洲老鼠在坦桑尼亚的一个港口完成了寻找走私动物的训练。

The wildlife is hidden in large shipping containers that leave the port of Dar es Salaam.

这些野生动物被藏在离开达累斯萨拉姆港的大型集装箱中。

Some of the goods include pangolins, a scaly anteater that is one of the most trafficked animals in the world.

其中一些动物包括穿山甲，一种带鳞的食蚁兽，是世界上被贩卖最多的动物之一。

Its meat is eaten as a delicacy in parts of Asia, and its scales are used in traditional Chinese medicine.

在亚洲部分地区，它的肉被当做美食食用，它的鳞片被用于传统的中药。

But rats still have a long way to go to improve their public image.

但老鼠要改善自己的公众形象还有很长的路要走。

Eric Adams is the mayor of New York City.

埃里克·亚当斯是纽约市市长。

Recently, he appointed Kathleen Corradi to help with the city's rat problem.

最近，他任命凯瑟琳·科拉迪帮助解决该市的老鼠问题。

During a news conference, Corradi talked about her hatred of rats and promised to use "science" to remove them.

在一次新闻发布会上，科拉迪谈到了她对老鼠的憎恨，并承诺要用“科学”来消灭老鼠。

Rats can spread diseases like leptospirosis, which can lead to kidney and liver failure.

老鼠可能会传播钩端螺旋体病等疾病，这种疾病可能会导致肾和肝脏衰竭。

A New York City spokesperson called the city's rats "dirty and diseased."

纽约市的一位发言人称该市的老鼠“肮脏且有病”。

He said that they are a public health risk, and that the city will remove the rats in a humane way, when possible, but that the city will put the needs of the people first.

他说，它们对公共健康构成威胁，如果可能的话，该市将以人道的方式消灭老鼠，但该市将会把人民的需求放在首位。

Izzy Szott is a research scientist for the Belgian non-profit group APOPO.

依奇·索特是比利时非营利组织APOPO的研究科学家。

The group trains rats to work for governments around the world.

该组织训练老鼠为世界各国政府工作。

She hopes that having the ambassador rats at famous zoos will help people understand and support rat research.

她希望在著名动物园有老鼠大使可以帮助人们了解和支持老鼠研究。

Szott said that rats are "actually are quite clean animals."

索特说，老鼠“实际上是非常干净的动物”。

She added they clean themselves and lick their trainers' arms with affection.

她补充说，它们会自我清洁，还会深情地舔训练员的手臂。

APOPO said that African giant pouched rats have found more than 150,000 landmines.

APOPO表示，非洲巨鼠已经发现了超过15万枚地雷。

The rats have also helped identify tuberculosis bacteria from 25,000 patients at African hospitals.

这种老鼠还帮助从非洲医院的2.5万名患者身上识别出结核病细菌。

In Tanzania, Szott said researchers are training rats to identify pollution and to find people buried in destroyed buildings after disasters.

在坦桑尼亚，索特说，研究人员正在训练老鼠识别污染，并在灾难发生后找到被掩埋在被摧毁的建筑物中的人。

Szott added that she thinks giant pouched rats will be used at ports and airports in the future and may replace dogs to smell for explosives and drugs.

索特补充说，她认为未来巨鼠将会被用于港口和机场，并可能会取代狗来闻爆炸物和毒品。

The common brown rat found in New York City has similar abilities, but they live only a few years.

在纽约市发现的普通棕色老鼠也有类似的能力，但它们只能活几年。

So, it is unlikely that they could be trained.

因此，它们不太可能被训练。

African rats can live up to 10 years.

非洲老鼠的寿命可达10年。

Speaking of the African pouched rat, Szott said the rat ambassadors will show, "just how smart they are and how we can co-exist with them."

在谈到非洲巨鼠时，索特说，老鼠大使将会证明“它们有多聪明，以及我们如何与它们共存。”

I'm Faith Pirlo.

费斯·皮尔洛为您播报。