Rats are not many people’s favourite animals.
老鼠并不是许多人最喜欢的动物。
But in most places, people have to learn to live with them.
但在大多数地方，人们不得不学会与它们共存。
Not in New Zealand, though.
不过新西兰不是这样。
To save native (本国的) birds, the country plans to get rid of rats, possums (负鼠) and stoats (白鼬) by 2050, reported Time for Kids.
为了拯救本土鸟类，该国计划在2050年前清除老鼠、负鼠和白鼬，《儿童时代》报道。
In New Zealand, rats are an invasive (入侵的) species.
在新西兰，老鼠是一种入侵物种。
They arrive on boats, along with the island’s first human settlers, in the 13th century.
它们于13世纪随首批人类定居者乘船抵达该岛。
Scientists believe that as time passed by, the rats ate and killed off several bird species on the island.
科学家认为，随着时间推移，老鼠吃掉了并导致岛上几种鸟类灭绝。
Humans also brought other animals like stoats and possums.
人类还带来了其他动物，如白鼬和负鼠。
In the beginning, stoats were hoped to eat another kind of invasive animal: rabbits.
起初，人们希望白鼬能吃掉另一种入侵动物：兔子。
However, the stoats fed on native species instead.
然而，白却转而捕食本地物种。
Likewise, possums were introduced because people wanted their fur.
同样，负鼠被引入是因为人们想要它们的皮毛。
But their population quickly grew out of control.
但它们的数量迅速失控。
Possums feed on the eggs and young of native birds.
负鼠以本地鸟类的蛋和幼鸟为食。
Most of New Zealand’s native species are birds.
新西兰的大多数本土物种是鸟类。
Many, like the national bird, the kiwi (几维鸟), can’t fly.
许多鸟类，比如国鸟几维鸟，不会飞。
Because they spent so long without a natural enemy, the birds lost the need to fly.
由于长期没有天敌，这些鸟类失去了飞行的需求。
When mammals (哺乳动物) like rats arrived, being not able to fly became a big problem for the birds.
当老鼠等哺乳动物到来时，无法飞行对鸟类来说成了大问题。
The government of New Zealand suggests several ways to get rid of the mammals.
新西兰政府提出了几种清除哺乳动物的方法。
Traps (捕鼠夹) and bait (诱饵) stations are the main types.
捕鼠夹和诱饵站是主要方式。
Genetic methods are also used.
遗传方法也被使用。
For example, scientists are trying to use gene technology to cause sterility (不育) in rats to control their population, reported Nature Research online.
例如，科学家正尝试利用基因技术使老鼠不育，从而控制其种群数量，《自然研究》在线报道。
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