VOA慢速英语--为寻找濒危动物而训练的狗

Dogs Trained to Find Endangered Animals

Many dogs are very hard-working animals.

They have been helping¹ people for thousands of years. Dogs protect our homes. They help people with disabilities. They team up with rescue workers in search-and-rescue operations.

And now, dogs can add another job to their resumes -- finding endangered animals! The official title for this kind of work is conservation detection dog.

Conservation experts in Australia are training dogs to use their sense of smell. The aim of the job is to find some of the country's most endangered creatures.

Luke Edwards is a dog owner and trainer. He is training two border collies, named Rubble² and Uda, to become conservation detection dogs.

He says that border collies are good for this kind of work because they have a great sense of smell. The dogs also have great stamina³ -- the mental and physical strength to work long hours.

"We know that border collies are really good at both searching and their stamina. That's what we're after for a working dog is their stamina -- both mentally and physically⁴."

Recently, the dogs went on their most difficult job yet -- finding the Baw Baw frog. This is the call of the male Baw Baw frog. This frog is one of Australia's most endangered animals.

The work is difficult mainly because of the search area. Just to get to the place, or site, where the frogs live, the dogs and their trainers must walk far distances through alpine⁵ forests.

"Going out to the sites at Mount Baw Baw is probably one of the hardest areas I've had to search in. Just to get out to the site, we're trekking⁷ through alpine forest."

It is difficult but important work.

A deadly fungus⁸ has killed nearly all of Australia’s Baw Baw frogs. In fact, scientists say these creatures could disappear in the next five to 10 years.

Zoos Victoria is a group set up to protect wildlife. Conservation experts there claim that since 1980 the deadly fungus has killed off 98 percent of the Baw Baw frogs.

So, Zoos Victoria is trying to save the frog. Experts there raise them and have them reproduce. They call it their captive breeding program.

Deon Gilbert is a frog expert at Zoos Victoria. He says that detecting the frogs in the wild can be very difficult because they mainly live underground. The females are even more difficult to find. They, unlike the male Baw Baw frogs, do not have a call. He adds that the dogs Rubble and Uda had no trouble in finding the frogs.

"This species is incredibly difficult to detect in the wild. The dogs were able to locate the exact site where the frogs were calling from much, much quicker than we could do just by using ears."

Dogs may find other endangered animals

Zoos Victoria in Australia is now considering using trained dogs to find other endangered species. Chris Harnett is also with the organization. She says finding endangered animals may be the perfect job for dogs – what she calls their "niche⁹."

"Particularly for those cryptic¹⁰ and low-density species, we think detection dogs might have a really important role to play. In fact, that could be their niche."

Luckily, other dogs are also being trained to find endangered species.

Tracy Edwards is another dog trainer. She owns a young border collie named Oakley. She says he is just learning how to obey commands and recalling what he smells.

"He's only a puppy -- or what we call now a 'wuppy', a whopping big puppy! And he is just kind of living life at the moment -- learning the basics, so obedience¹¹ and recalls."

Tracy says that Oakley will start working as a conservation detection dog later this year. She agrees that border collies make good detection dogs because they work hard. But she points out another quality not mentioned by the other researchers: They are also very loving.

"We just like border collies. We like their work ethic¹². We like the fact they can go all day, and we also like the fact that they love to cuddle up at night on the couch."

I'm Anna Matteo.

Words in This Story

résumé – n. a short document describing your education, work history, etc., that you give an employer when you are applying for a job

conservation – n. the protection of animals, plants, and natural resources

detect – v. to discover or notice the presence of (something that is hidden or hard to see, hear, taste, etc.)

trek⁶ – v. to go on a long and often difficult journey : to walk usually for a long distance

fungus – n. any one of a group of living things (such as molds, mushrooms, or yeasts) that often look like plants but have no flowers and that live on dead or decaying things

captive breeding – science term : the process of breeding animals in controlled environments within well-defined settings, such as wildlife reserves, zoos and other commercial and noncommercial conservation facilities

niche – n. a job, activity, etc., that is very suitable for someone

cryptic – science term : animals that blend into their environment to avoid observation : a group of species that are very difficult to distinguish from one another

whopping – adj. extremely large

work ethic – a belief in the moral benefit and importance of work and its inherent ability to strengthen character

cuddle – v. to hold close for warmth or comfort or in affection : cuddle up – phrasal verb

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

3 stamina   

n.体力；精力；耐力

参考例句：

• I lacked the stamina to run the whole length of the race.我没有跑完全程的耐力。
• Giving up smoking had a magical effect on his stamina.戒烟神奇地增强了他的体力。

4 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

5 alpine   

adj.高山的；n.高山植物

参考例句：

• Alpine flowers are abundant there.那里有很多高山地带的花。
• Its main attractions are alpine lakes and waterfalls .它以高山湖泊和瀑布群为主要特色。

6 trek   

vi.作长途艰辛的旅行；n.长途艰苦的旅行

参考例句：

• We often go pony-trek in the summer.夏季我们经常骑马旅行。
• It took us the whole day to trek across the rocky terrain.我们花了一整天的时间艰难地穿过那片遍布岩石的地带。

7 trekking   

v.艰苦跋涉，徒步旅行( trek的现在分词 )；（尤指在山中）远足，徒步旅行，游山玩水

参考例句：

• She can't come pony trekking after all because she's in a delicate condition. 她结果还是不能坐小马车旅行，因为她已怀孕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We spent the summer trekking in the foothills of the Himalayas. 我们整个夏天都在喜马拉雅山的山麓艰难跋涉。 来自互联网

8 fungus   

n.真菌，真菌类植物

参考例句：

• Mushrooms are a type of fungus.蘑菇是一种真菌。
• This fungus can just be detected by the unaided eye.这种真菌只用肉眼就能检查出。

9 niche   

n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等)

参考例句：

• Madeleine placed it carefully in the rocky niche. 玛德琳小心翼翼地把它放在岩石壁龛里。
• The really talented among women would always make their own niche.妇女中真正有才能的人总是各得其所。

10 cryptic   

adj.秘密的，神秘的，含义模糊的

参考例句：

• She made a cryptic comment about how the film mirrored her life.她隐晦地表示说这部电影是她人生的写照。
• The new insurance policy is written without cryptic or mysterious terms.新的保险单在编写时没有隐秘条款或秘密条款。

11 obedience   

n.服从，顺从

参考例句：

• Society has a right to expect obedience of the law.社会有权要求人人遵守法律。
• Soldiers act in obedience to the orders of their superior officers.士兵们遵照上级军官的命令行动。

12 ethic   

n.道德标准，行为准则

参考例句：

• They instilled the work ethic into their children.他们在孩子们的心中注入了职业道德的理念。
• The connotation of education ethic is rooted in human nature's mobility.教育伦理的内涵根源于人本性的变动性。