Rats are not looked upon too kindly in most societies. Then again, some people have rats as pets (are you one?) – they can be affectionate and whip smart.
But the African giant pouched rat goes above and beyond, actually helping people and saving lives – earning them the moniker “hero rat.”
Here are some of the amazing facts about these rodents.
- Landmine Detection: Sniff out TNT explosives without triggering them due to their light weight, clearing land much faster than metal detectors. They’re called African giants but they still only weigh 2.2 to 3.3 pounds.
- Disease Screening: Rapidly screen samples for tuberculosis in local clinics at a fraction of standard testing time.
- Search and Rescue: Trained to navigate tight spaces under disaster rubble using specialized smart backpacks.
- Magawa was a record-breaking African giant pouched rat trained by the APOPO organization to sniff out hidden landmines in Cambodia. Over his career, he cleared nearly 2.5 million square feet of land and received a prestigious animal bravery medal. APOPO (it stands for very big words in Dutch so I’ll forgo the whole name here) came up with the program and technology for the hero rats to detect landmines and tuberculosis. Find out more about their work on their website.
