They have to be trained... the academy
The Best Secret Weapon Against Landmines and Tuberculosis Is a Rat
African giant pouched rats are better mine-sniffers than dogs and faster at TB diagnosis than human doctors.
By Elisabeth Waugaman
Thanks to HeroRAT teams, 270 square miles of Mozambique farmland are once again available to farmers dislocated since the 1980s. HeroRATS exposed 13,826 mines, 29,031 small arms and ammunitions, and 39,601 leftover unexploded munitions. Removing landmines not only saves lives but also and restores land for farming, development, and safe travel, including delivery of emergency aid.
The rats are many times more efficient at this job than humans. In 30 minutes a rat can do what it takes a human a day to do-if a human could do it at all. Metal detectors not only fail to discern between metal rubbish and active ordinance, but also have difficulty finding landmines now made predominantly out of plastic.
HeroRATs are also a better demining solution than dogs, who have long been the go-to animal for mine detection. Rats have a working life span equivalent to that of dogs, and work similar hours-from about 5 a.m. to 9 a.m., before it gets too hot-and in almost every other way the rats are superior.
African giant pouched rats are better mine-sniffers than dogs and faster at TB diagnosis than human doctors.
By Elisabeth Waugaman
Thanks to HeroRAT teams, 270 square miles of Mozambique farmland are once again available to farmers dislocated since the 1980s. HeroRATS exposed 13,826 mines, 29,031 small arms and ammunitions, and 39,601 leftover unexploded munitions. Removing landmines not only saves lives but also and restores land for farming, development, and safe travel, including delivery of emergency aid.
Click to viewThe rats are many times more efficient at this job than humans. In 30 minutes a rat can do what it takes a human a day to do-if a human could do it at all. Metal detectors not only fail to discern between metal rubbish and active ordinance, but also have difficulty finding landmines now made predominantly out of plastic.
HeroRATs are also a better demining solution than dogs, who have long been the go-to animal for mine detection. Rats have a working life span equivalent to that of dogs, and work similar hours-from about 5 a.m. to 9 a.m., before it gets too hot-and in almost every other way the rats are superior.