Mine- and tuberculosis-detecting rats (APOPO)
Ratas detectoras de minas y de tuberculosis (APOPO)
- Date
- 1997-2000 · confidence medium
- Place
- Morogoro, Tanzania
- Credited to
- Bart Weetjens and APOPO
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Gambian pouched rats trained by food reward to identify the smell of TNT, too light to trigger mines. The same technique is used to sniff out tuberculosis in sputum samples.
The project was conceived by Weetjens in Belgium (1995-97) and the training centre settled at Sokoine University in Morogoro around 2000; mine use in Mozambique and TB use came later. Project dates are indicative.
What it led to
- demining in Mozambique, Angola and Cambodia with rats
- tuberculosis detection in sputum samples in Tanzania and Mozambique
- animal scent training as a humanitarian technique