Rat Ambassadors Try to Win over the American Public

Rat Ambassadors Try to Win over the American Public

Three zoos in the United States, including the San Diego Zoo, now have "hero rat" ambassadors, showing the abilities of the African giant pouched¹ rats.

A Tanzania-based organization that trains the rats provided them to the zoos. The rats use their sense of smell to perform useful tasks like detecting diseases and landmines², helping³ fight wildlife trafficking and more.

Runa is the giant pouched rat at the San Diego Zoo. She was trained to find landmines. The rats can detect landmines and explosive materials in former war areas in countries like Angola, Mozambique and Cambodia.

But Runa was a little distracted doing that job. Cari Inserra, a wildlife care specialist at the San Diego Zoo, said Runa is now doing well as a rat ambassador.

Recently Runa used her sense of smell to find small amounts of tea that her trainers had hidden under dirt in a box. Once she found the tea, she was given a reward of a pellet and banana drink.

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

Nicki Boyd works for the San Diego Zoo and Wildlife Alliance. She said the zoo wants to show that rats are an important tool for fighting wildlife trafficking. She said that the illegal animal trade, "is very destructive to the species that we are actively⁴ trying to save and protect in the wild."

In March, six African rats finished training to find trafficked goods in a port in Tanzania. The wildlife is hidden in large shipping⁵ containers that leave the port of Dar es Salaam⁶.

Some of the goods include pangolins, a scaly⁷ anteater that is one of the most trafficked animals in the world. Its meat is eaten as a delicacy⁸ in parts of Asia, and its scales are used in traditional Chinese medicine.

But rats still have a long way to go to improve their public image. Eric Adams is the mayor of New York City. Recently, he appointed Kathleen Corradi to help with the city's rat problem.

During a news conference, Corradi talked about her hatred⁹ of rats and promised to use "science" to remove them. Rats can spread diseases like leptospirosis, which can lead to kidney and liver failure.

A New York City spokesperson called the city's rats "dirty and diseased." He said that they are a public health risk, and that the city will remove the rats in a humane¹⁰ way, when possible, but that the city will put the needs of the people first.

Izzy Szott is a research scientist for the Belgian non-profit group APOPO. The group trains rats to work for governments around the world. She hopes that having the ambassador rats at famous zoos will help people understand and support rat research.

Szott said that rats are "actually are quite clean animals." She added they clean themselves and lick their trainers' arms with affection.

APOPO said that African giant pouched rats have found more than 150,000 landmines. The rats have also helped identify tuberculosis¹¹ bacteria from 25,000 patients at African hospitals.

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

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.

The common brown rat found in New York City has similar abilities, but they live only a few years. So, it is unlikely that they could be trained. African rats can live up to 10 years.

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."

Words in This Story

detect – v. to discover something that was not known or hidden by searching for it

trafficked – adj. the illegal business of taking people from one place to another to be used as workers

distracted – adj. having one's thoughts or attention drawn¹² away: unable to concentrate or give attention to something

pellet – n. a small, hard ball of metal, grain or other material

perception – v. the way a person thinks about or understands something

scaly – adj. covered with scales or flakes¹³

delicacy – n. a special food, usually something rare or costly¹⁴

humane – adj. kind or gentle to others

groom¹⁵ – v. to clean and care for an animal

affection – n. a feeling of liking¹⁶ and caring for someone or something

contaminated – adj. to make (something) dangerous, dirty, or impure¹⁷ by adding something harmful or undesirable¹⁸ to it

rubble¹⁹ – n. broken pieces of stone, or brick from walls or buildings that have fallen

species – n. a group of animals or plants that are similar and can produce young

1 pouched   

adj.袋形的，有袋的

参考例句：

• He pouched the pack of cigarettes. 他把这包香烟装入口袋中。 来自辞典例句
• His face pouched and seamed. 他的面孔肉松皮皱。 来自辞典例句

2 landmines   

潜在的冲突； 地雷，投伞水雷( landmine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The treaty bans the use production and trade of landmines. 该条约规定，禁止使用地雷相关产品及贸易。
• One of the weapon's of special concern was landmines. 在引起人们特别关注的武器中就有地雷。

3 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。

4 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

5 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

6 salaam   

n.额手之礼，问安，敬礼；v.行额手礼

参考例句：

• And the people were so very friendly:full of huge beaming smiles,calling out "hello" and "salaam".这里的人民都很友好，灿然微笑着和我打招呼，说“哈罗”和“萨拉姆”。
• Salaam is a Muslim form of salutation.额手礼是穆斯林的问候方式。

7 scaly   

adj.鱼鳞状的；干燥粗糙的

参考例句：

• Reptiles possess a scaly,dry skin.爬行类具有覆盖着鳞片的干燥皮肤。
• The iron pipe is scaly with rust.铁管子因为生锈一片片剥落了。

8 delicacy   

n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴

参考例句：

• We admired the delicacy of the craftsmanship.我们佩服工艺师精巧的手艺。
• He sensed the delicacy of the situation.他感觉到了形势的微妙。

9 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

10 humane   

adj.人道的，富有同情心的

参考例句：

• Is it humane to kill animals for food?宰杀牲畜来吃合乎人道吗？
• Their aim is for a more just and humane society.他们的目标是建立一个更加公正、博爱的社会。

11 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

12 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

13 flakes   

小薄片( flake的名词复数 )； （尤指）碎片； 雪花； 古怪的人

参考例句：

• It's snowing in great flakes. 天下着鹅毛大雪。
• It is snowing in great flakes. 正值大雪纷飞。

14 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

15 groom   

vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁

参考例句：

• His father was a groom.他父亲曾是个马夫。
• George was already being groomed for the top job.为承担这份高级工作，乔治已在接受专门的培训。

16 liking   

n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢

参考例句：

• The word palate also means taste or liking.Palate这个词也有“口味”或“嗜好”的意思。
• I must admit I have no liking for exaggeration.我必须承认我不喜欢夸大其词。

17 impure   

adj.不纯净的，不洁的；不道德的，下流的

参考例句：

• The air of a big city is often impure.大城市的空气往往是污浊的。
• Impure drinking water is a cause of disease.不洁的饮用水是引发疾病的一个原因。

18 undesirable   

adj.不受欢迎的，不良的，不合意的，讨厌的；n.不受欢迎的人，不良分子

参考例句：

• They are the undesirable elements among the employees.他们是雇员中的不良分子。
• Certain chemicals can induce undesirable changes in the nervous system.有些化学物质能在神经系统中引起不良变化。

19 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。