Rats have sniffed out landmines and searched for earthquake survivors. Now, they are being trained to detect evidence of wildlife smuggling.
African giant pouched rats can grow to be as large as a small house cat. They have a great sense of smell, a long life span (for rats), and are easily trained. For decades, APOPO has trained these rats to detect landmines in Cambodia and Azerbaijan, search for earthquake survivors in Turkey, and detect tuberculosis. Now, the rats are learning to sniff for evidence of wildlife crimes, like smuggling ivory, rhino horns, or pangolins.
Although they wear vests with bells for training purposes, most real-world applications require them to wear backpacks that carry additional equipment, such as cameras. The vests and backpacks are equally adorable.
Note: I looked it up so you don't have to: APOPO is an acronym from Dutch which stands for "Anti-Persoonsmijnen Ontmijnende Product Ontwikkeling", or in English, Anti-Personnel Landmines Detection Product Development.
Previously: Man busted at airport smuggling two otters and a prairie dog in his underwear
