Throughout the world, places that
have been involved in war and/or civil strife often have large minefields that
still need clearing. In 2013, it was estimated that there was a global average
of around nine mine-related deaths every day. The situation is especially dire
in Africa.
Typically, clearing a minefield involves men in body armor walking in very precise lines with metal detectors. Anything (from a rusty nail to an old ammo cartridge) that sets the detectors off must be investigated before moving on. A new method of bomb detection using rats, however, is flipping this process on its head. A Belgian NGO called APOPO has developed a way to train African pouched rats (named for the storage pouch in their cheeks) to sniff out bombs quickly and safely.
They used this rat because it has
an incredibly fine-tuned sense of smell and a long lifespan (8-9 years) to yield
returns on the nine months of training they undergo.
They're called Hero Rats, and NOT
ONE
has died in the line of duty
since the program started in 1997.
The average mine requires 5 kg
(roughly 11 pounds)
of weight to trigger an
explosion,
but even the biggest of these
rats
are only around 1.5 kg (3.3
pounds).
Since they're trained to sniff
out explosives exclusively,
they aren't distracted by other
metal objects
the way human minesweepers
are.
They can
effectively search 200 square meters
in less than 20
minutes.
A team of humans would
need
around 25 hours to do the same
job.
Since they're in the African sun
a lot,
the Hero Rats get sunscreen to
keep them cancer free.
If a rat does get
cancer,
it receives full medical
treatment.
The rats are "paid" in avocados,
peanuts,bananas and other healthy
treats.
After about 4-5 years on the
job
(or whenever they lose interest
in working),
they're allowed to
retire.
Retirement consists of eating all
the tasty fruit
their little hero heart's
desire.
Reprinted from Wimp.com