Giant Bomb-Sniffing Rats Develop New Talents

The African giant pouched rat, also called the Gambian pouched rat, is a large, nocturnal rodent with terrible eyesight. It is also intelligent and fairly easy to train – mostly to seek out landmines, but its skill set is expanding.

The non-government organization APOPO, based in Morogoro, Tanzania, has been training the rats since 1997. Their main gig is sniffing out explosives across Africa and Southeast Asia. By the end of 2021 the rats were credited with finding 150,000 bombs, including land mines, which were subsequently deactivated and removed. Across seven countries in Africa and Southeast Asia, they’ve cleared more than 17,000 acres of land that can now be used in peace by some 2 million people.

With weak eyesight, the pouched rat has developed a very keen sense of smell, able to suss out as little as a billionth of a gram of explosive material. The rats weigh only about three pounds, so they’re not heavy enough to detonate their targets.

The furry heroes can be trained to detect virtually anything with a scent, including humans who may be trapped in collapsed buildings, for example, or earthquake victims. Recently some rats were trained to find animal trophies – antlers, tusks, and the like – as part of an effort to crack down on the illegal wildlife trade. APOPO has lately been training some rats to detect tuberculosis, so we might see them deployed as diagnostic tools soon.

The rats can be outfitted with special vests or backpacks through which they  communicate with their handlers, who stay a safe distance from bombs and other dangers while the rats do all the dirty work. As if they’re myriad skills weren’t enough, these guys look really sharp in a vest as well.

Visit apopo.org to meet some of the hero rats. If you want to be a hero too, you can adopt one with a donation.

Photo credit: APOPO