African giant pouched rats, which have previously been trained to sniff out buried mines and detect tuberculosis, are now being used to stop smuggling in Tanzania, The Guardian reported.
Endangered wildlife trafficking is a huge problem in the region, with rhinos, elephants, and pangolins being hunted for their body parts. Around $20 billion in illegal animal parts is sold every year, according to stats from Interpol, The Guardian revealed.
To combat this, researchers at APOPO, a Belgian nongovernmental organization based in Tanzania, created a study to see whether African pouched rats can play a role in detection. They trained eight pouched rats to sniff out some of the illicit materials being smuggled, including rhino horns, elephant tusks, pangolin scales, and hardwood.
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Their initial results were promising, The Guardian reported. The rats were able to find the illegal items even when they were hidden in other smelly substances that smugglers had previously used to transport these materials undetected. Rats sorted through peanuts, leaves, washing powder, and wigs to find the contraband.
To let the rats do their jobs, the researchers dressed them in red vests, with small beepers they could activate with their paws to alert their handlers. Correctly identifying a sample of contraband earned the rat a treat — all the motivation the clever rodents needed.
Not only were the rats successful, they even remembered scents after eight months without exposure, suggesting that they could remember smells as long as sniffer dogs, according to the study.
In a real-world simulation in 2023, the rats found 85% of planted samples in the port of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's commercial capital, The Guardian said.
Trained rats could become a valuable asset in the fight against wildlife smuggling, which claims the lives of countless endangered animals every year. The better officials become at shutting these operations down, the more of these animals will live on to reproduce and ensure the survival of species that would otherwise be in danger of extinction.
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