1. Rat helpers
APOPO is based in Belgium. Its
name is an acronym. In English the
organization’s full name is Anti-
Personnel Landmines Detection
Product Development. For the last
15 years APOPO has been using a
type of rat to find buried landmines
in Mozambique.
About seven years ago, AP-
OPO began using its rats to detect
tuberculosis (TB). A bacterium
causes this disease. Usually, it in-
fects the lungs. Now, the rats are
training for a different task. They
are to be used to sniff out pango-
lin scales. These animals are also
called scaly anteaters.
Landmines are types of weapons
that are hidden under the ground.
They explode if someone steps on
them.Landminesaredesignedtobad-
ly wound soldiers. Today, in several
countries, such as Mozambique,
landmines still cause many seri-
ous injuries. The mines were bur-
ied a long time ago. Yet, when
the fighting stopped, they were
forgotten about. Many countries
have now agreed to ban the use
of landmines.
Bart Weetjens is from Bel-
gium. He set up APOPO in 1997.
When he was a young boy he
liked to play with his pet rats.
At university, Mr. Weetjens be-
came interested in the problem of
detecting, or finding, landmines.
He realized that rats could be the
answer. This is because rats have
a very good sense of smell and
are easily trained. What’s more,
they do not weigh very much. If
a rat steps on a landmine, it will
not explode.
APOPO-trained rat sniffing TB samples
In Mozambique, Mr. Weetjens
decided to use the giant pouched rat.
These rats are found in many Afri-
can countries. The rat’s name comes
from its pouch-like cheeks. Similar
to a hamster, the rat can store and
transport large amounts of food in
its cheeks. Adult giant rats are about
36 inches (92 centimeters) long.
This includes their long tail, which
is the same length as their bodies.
The rats have poor eyesight but a
very good sense of smell.
When detecting landmines the
rats wear a harness. These are straps
that go around the rat’s body. The
harness is attached to a long line,
or rope. Two people, or handlers,
work with each rat. Each holds
one end of the rope. When the rat
smells the explosives in a landmine
it starts to scratch the ground. An-
other rat is then used to check the
same area. Markers are placed to
show where the mines are. Spe-
cially trained people then carefully
dig up the mines and destroy them.
APOPO-trained rats now work in
several African countries.
As each one is opened the rat
sniffs it. If it smells TB, the rat
scratches the floor of the cage.
When the rat has finished, another
is put into the cage to double check
the results. As a reward, the rats
are given avocado, mashed banana
and other tidbits, or treats.
Each rat can check 100 sam-
ples a day. This is much
quicker than looking at each
sample with amicroscope. The
samples picked out by the rats are
checked with a mi-croscope. TB
can be deadly. There-fore, finding
out quickly whether a person has
the disease or not is im-portant.
Once this is done, they can
receive the correct treatment.
Nowadays, many pangolins are
unlawfully killed or captured for
their meat and body parts. The
animals are covered in armor-like
scales. These overlap and have
sharp edges. In parts of Asia, such
as China and Vietnam, some peo-
ple think that pangolin meat is a
delicacy. The animals are also
killed for their scales. Pangolin
scales are used in certain tradi-
tional Chinese medicines.
Wildlife officials say that pan-
golins are now the world’s most
poached and unlawfully traded
mammal. The rats will be able to
detect pangolin scales in unopened
crates or packages. They will
prob-ably be used in port cities in
Africa and Asia. APOPO says that
it will take several years to train
the rats to detect the scales.
APOPO’s TB operation is in
Tanzania. This disease is hard to
detect. A sample coughed up by a
person has to be studied under a
microscope. This is the only way to
confirm that a person has the dis-
ease. APOPO rats are trained from
birth to pick up the smell of the dis-
ease. An assistant places a tray of
samples in a cage. They are opened
one by one.
