Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Cat-sized African rats survive in Florida

It is the largest rat in the world, growing to be as big as a raccoon and weighing up to 4kg (8.8 pounds). The African Giant Pouch rat, also known as the Gambian pouch rat, is a nocturnal pouched rat native to Africa. Gambian pouch rats have been found in Florida's Grassy Key despite efforts to eradicate them. Officials worry that the voracious rats might wipe out some crops and upset the delicate ecological balance if they manage to reach the Florida mainland. The African species first appeared on Grassy Key, Florida in 1999 after eight rats escaped from a local exotic pets breeder. The rats primarily eat fruit and grains but have been known to also eat insects, crabs and snails. Ecologists worry that they will harm crops in Florida.
The rats are trained for the tuberculosis (TB) detection program at Sokoine University in Morogoro Tanzania, and to locate inert anti-personnel mine in southern Mozambique. Also, mine detecting Gambian giant pouch rats (Cricetomys Gambianus) work in mine fields near Vilancoulos in southern Mozambique.


 





What is your opinion of these unique creatures?

2 comments:

  1. i think these creatures are very strange and i wonder how these creatures were made

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  2. I think it is strange how these animals were made because these are very strange rats

    ReplyDelete