Giant African rats during training.

Giant African rats weighing 1.5 to 2 kg and 3 to 4 times larger than Norway rats can be used to combat illegal wildlife trafficking, a study suggests. study published last month by the non-profit APOPO. Native to the savannahs of southern Africa, these giant rats, also called “hero rats” by those who train them, have been used to detect deadly landmines and tuberculosis pathogens in samples. Scientists now believe they can be trained to identify illegally trafficked wildlife using scent detection.

The study, carried out in Morogoro, Tanzania, East Africa, between December 2017 and December 2021, demonstrated that the giant rats successfully detected samples of elephant ivory, rhino horn, pangolin scales and African hardwood, even when these wildlife products were mixed with non-target elements. .

“Scent-detecting animals present an innovative approach to combating illegal wildlife trade, as the animals may be better adapted to distinguish organic matter and less susceptible to visual concealment methods,” reads the article. ‘study.

He noted that current methods to combat illegal wildlife trade and monitor these shipping containers, such as X-ray examinations, were expensive and time-consuming. According to a report from Discover the wildlifeit costs around $30,000 to train a dog, while airport scanners can cost between $30,000 and $1.2 million. However, training a detector rat only costs $8,000.

Additionally, rats are not picky about their owners, unlike dogs who often work with the same agent. According to Isabelle Szott, principal research scientist and one of the co-authors of the study, the light weight of giant rats also plays an “important aspect for the detection of wildlife products, because we can breed the rats to locations higher, such as ship ventilation systems. containers”.

“In other words, they can go where dogs can’t go,” she added.

Despite the study’s success, the scientists said “further research is needed to establish the feasibility of deployment.” For outdoor tests, rats will need to wear custom-made vests with a small ball on the front, emitting a beep. When a rat wants to alert its owner of a suspicious target, it uses its front legs to pull and make the ball sound.

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Illegal wildlife trade

The illegal wildlife trade is considered the fourth largest transnational criminal economy, estimated at between $7 billion and $23 billion and is closely linked to crimes such as money laundering, corruption and drug trafficking, d weapons and/or human beings.

Additionally, the spread of zoonotic diseases is commonly linked to illegal and unregulated trade in species between countries, exacerbating public health emergencies such as the novel coronavirus pandemic.