Hello everybody, and welcome to a new episode of News Bites!

I'm Nancy Sun…

And I'm Paz Bueno.

In today's news:

Liuqiu Island's coral problem, a special racing dog returns, and rats train to become heroes.

All that and more, coming up next.

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小琉球的珊瑚問題

Liuqiu Island's Coral Problem

Liuqiu Island (小琉球) is famous for its turtles, its beautiful beaches, and its coral reefs.

Many local tourists (當地遊客) like to go to Liuqiu because it is a seaside paradise (海岸天堂).

It has a protected coral area (珊瑚保護區).

And it has fun glass-bottomed boats (玻璃船) you can ride to discover (探索) more about sea life.

But people who are trying to save the environment (環境) say there is a problem in Liuqiu.

And that problem has to do with Liuqiu's corals.

這個問題跟小琉球的珊瑚有關。

Some scientists (科學家) have studied Taiwan's coral reefs for 12 years.

They say of all the reefs in Taiwan (台灣所有的珊瑚礁之中), the reefs around Liuqiu Island are in the worst condition.

In 2020, when the weather was very hot, and there were no typhoons, Taiwan's different coral reefs were badly damaged (受損).

The corals around Taiwan turned white, including the ones around Liuqiu Island.

Some of the other corals that turned white, or were bleached (白化), seem to be better now.

But the ones around Liuqiu Island are still in very bad shape (健康狀況差)

Climate change (氣候變遷) is not Liuqiu's only problem.

The island has too many tourists.

Liuqiu Island is also affected (受影響) by pollution (汙染) from Kaohsiung and Pingtung.

Some scientists think it is too late to save all of the coral reefs of Liuqiu Island.

But others say it might still be possible to save a few coral reefs.

Coral experts are asking the government to pass a law to protect the ocean by 2030.

That way, Liuqiu's corals may have a chance to survive (生存).

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特別的賽犬成功返家

A Special Racing Dog Returns

Every year, people get together to join the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race (艾迪塔羅德狗拉雪橇賽).

It's a special race that happens in Alaska.

Dog teams that join the Iditarod need to run for 1,609 kilometers.

The route goes through two mountain ranges (山脈), a frozen river, and next to the Bering Sea (白令海).

The race is so long, teams of 12 and 14 dogs need up to 15 days to do the whole race.

比賽路徑很長，12隻和14隻狗組成的雪橇隊需要15天才能跑完全程。

The Iditarod started as a way of testing the dogs to see how far and how fast they could run.

But it has become a very competitive race.

It can be hard to race in the Iditarod.

It happens in early March, so teams have to travel through snow storms.

The wind chill (風寒) can even reach minus 73 degrees Celsius!

This year's Iditarod was especially sad, because one of the trainers lost his dog Leon.

The dog disappeared from a checkpoint (中途點).

But Leon has been found safe!

He had travelled more than 240 kilometers from where he got lost, but he was safe.

The people that found him also said Leon was skinny, but healthy (瘦弱但仍然健康).

Leon's owner is a man from France.

He needed to go back to Alaska to pick up Leon.

Leon just needs to see a veterinarian (獸醫) to make sure he is okay before he returns to France.

Maybe someone can write a book about Leon's story someday!

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老鼠被訓練成救援英雄

How Rats Train to Become Heroes

Many people might not like rats very much.

But scientists think rats are very smart, and they might be able to help earthquake victims (受害者) in the future.

Some rats are being trained in Scotland.

During the training, the rats are taught how to wear backpacks with a microphone (麥克風) , video camera, and tracker (追蹤器).

The rats then go into rubble (瓦礫堆), where they are taught to look for humans.

The trainers say the rats are very smart.

科學家說老鼠非常聰明。

It only took the rats two weeks to learn how to do this.

If this works, humans will have new partners to work with when earthquakes happen.

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So, in today's News Bites:

Liuqiu Island may be famous for its beaches.

But researchers say the island's coral reefs are badly damaged

Some scientists say the reefs can still be saved, but others say the reefs are beyond repair.

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The Iditarod is a challenging dog race that happens in Alaska every year.

This year, one dog disappeared in the middle of the race.

But three months after the race finished, Leon the dog showed up, skinny but healthy.

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Scientists are training rats to go through earthquake rubble to look for survivors.

The rats are given backpacks with a microphone, a tracker, and a camera.

Trainers say the rats only took two weeks to learn how to do this.

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And that's today's episode of News Bites!