They may make your skin crawl, but these rats are
saving lives in Cambodia.
The giant rats are being used to sniff out
landmines in the war-torn country, where there are as many as three
million mines still scattered across the countryside.
Once trained to sniff out TNT, the rats can do a
job in 20 minutes that would take a human mine detector five days,
and for a fraction of the cost.
Trained at a research centre in Tanzania, the
rats – which have been dubbed ‘hero-rats’ – have already been
successfully deployed in parts of Africa, such as Angola and
Mozambique.
A team of 10 has now been sent to Cambodia, where
they are getting used to the climate and undergoing performance
tests.
James Pursey, communications director for the
Belgian anti-mining NGO Apopo, said: ‘They are still a bit
skittish.
‘This is also the first time many of the trainers
have worked with such big rats, so we are easing everyone into it
slowly.’
When the rats discover a mine they communicate
their find by scratching and squeaking, and are rewarded with a
mouthful of fruit.
The rats are kept on harnesses and slide along a
rope line held between two trainers, while carrying out the
searches.
The African giant pouched rat – which can grow up
to three-foot long – is a relatively calm and sociable animal that
enjoys repetitive tasks and can live up to eight years.
Although it has poor sight, its keen sense of
smell and intelligence makes it ideal for the job.
As it is so light, it does not detonate
pressure-activated landmines that normally require three times
their weight to set them off
Landmines are a constant threat in Cambodia,
particularly along the border with Thailand where there are an
estimated two to three million of them.
Since 1979, mines and unexploded ordnance have
killed more than 19,000 Cambodians and injured more than
45,000.
Eight people have already been killed by mines in
the country this year.
In Mozambique, the rats have so far detected
nearly 2,500 mines as well as more than 14,000 pieces of unexploded
ordnance, small arms and ammunition, left over by the country’s
1990s civil war.