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| Can rats help clear Africa's landmines? | Can rats help clear Africa's landmines? |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| By Joe Loncraine BBC World News, Mozambique Mr Hall has advised Apopo on new income sources | |
| Landmines - brutal and indiscriminate weapons - are depressingly common in the developing world. Can the highly developed sense of smell of rats help to clear this scourge? | Landmines - brutal and indiscriminate weapons - are depressingly common in the developing world. Can the highly developed sense of smell of rats help to clear this scourge? |
| We rattled along the potholed dirt road, a thick plume of red earth spraying out behind us. | We rattled along the potholed dirt road, a thick plume of red earth spraying out behind us. |
| Four hours from the Mozambican capital, Maputo, we arrived in the small, dusty town of Chokwe. The reality of where I was going was only just sinking in. We were headed for the largest remaining minefield in Mozambique. | Four hours from the Mozambican capital, Maputo, we arrived in the small, dusty town of Chokwe. The reality of where I was going was only just sinking in. We were headed for the largest remaining minefield in Mozambique. |
| We were travelling with Apopo, a social enterprise which has come up with a unique way of clearing mines - rats. | We were travelling with Apopo, a social enterprise which has come up with a unique way of clearing mines - rats. |
| Hero Rats | Hero Rats |
| Drawing on their remarkable sense of smell, Apopo have found a way to train rats to sniff out the TNT in mines. We'd already see them being trained in Tanzania. Now it was time to see them at work in Mozambique. | Drawing on their remarkable sense of smell, Apopo have found a way to train rats to sniff out the TNT in mines. We'd already see them being trained in Tanzania. Now it was time to see them at work in Mozambique. |
| One of the biggest hindrances to development in rural Mozambique is the presence, or even just the suspected presence, of a mine. | One of the biggest hindrances to development in rural Mozambique is the presence, or even just the suspected presence, of a mine. |
| MINES Countries affected by landmines - 70Annual number of casualties caused by landmines (2008) - 5,200Countries producing or able to produce landmines - 13 Source: Land Mine Monitor Annual Report 2009 | MINES Countries affected by landmines - 70Annual number of casualties caused by landmines (2008) - 5,200Countries producing or able to produce landmines - 13 Source: Land Mine Monitor Annual Report 2009 |
| This was the legacy of Mozambique's brutal civil war, which lasted more than fifteen years, led to hundreds of thousands of deaths and left an estimated three million unexploded mines. | This was the legacy of Mozambique's brutal civil war, which lasted more than fifteen years, led to hundreds of thousands of deaths and left an estimated three million unexploded mines. |
| Bart Weetjens, a Flemish rodent enthusiast, realised that many African communities are too dependent on overseas foreign expertise to tackle many of the ordinary activities essential for their development, let alone clearing mines. | Bart Weetjens, a Flemish rodent enthusiast, realised that many African communities are too dependent on overseas foreign expertise to tackle many of the ordinary activities essential for their development, let alone clearing mines. |
| He believed he could train indigenous people to use a local resource, well suited for the job - African Pouched Rats. Like Pavlov's dogs, the rats are conditioned to associate a stimulus with food - only it's the smell of TNT, rather than the sound of a bell. | He believed he could train indigenous people to use a local resource, well suited for the job - African Pouched Rats. Like Pavlov's dogs, the rats are conditioned to associate a stimulus with food - only it's the smell of TNT, rather than the sound of a bell. |
| When we visited Bart and his team in Tanzania, where the rats are trained, it was all very light hearted and fun. The large, yet surprisingly cute rats climbed all over the camera crew. Now in Mozambique, the rats' nick name - Hero Rats - suddenly began to feel more appropriate and serious. | When we visited Bart and his team in Tanzania, where the rats are trained, it was all very light hearted and fun. The large, yet surprisingly cute rats climbed all over the camera crew. Now in Mozambique, the rats' nick name - Hero Rats - suddenly began to feel more appropriate and serious. |
| Cheaper than dogs | Cheaper than dogs |
| We all had to don protective clothing. Heavy and incredibly hot, it offered some protection but probably wouldn't have saved us from deadly fragmentation mines. | We all had to don protective clothing. Heavy and incredibly hot, it offered some protection but probably wouldn't have saved us from deadly fragmentation mines. |
| We watched as the rats ran along wires between two handlers. When they smell a landmine, they stop, sniff the ground and begin to dig. This signal lets the Apopo staff know they have found a mine or some other explosive, which can then be removed. | We watched as the rats ran along wires between two handlers. When they smell a landmine, they stop, sniff the ground and begin to dig. This signal lets the Apopo staff know they have found a mine or some other explosive, which can then be removed. |
| The rats dig when they find a landmine | The rats dig when they find a landmine |
| Rats, according to Apopo, are much faster than men using metal detectors and are not distracted by metal contaminants. They are much cheaper to maintain than dogs and are easily passed between different handlers. | Rats, according to Apopo, are much faster than men using metal detectors and are not distracted by metal contaminants. They are much cheaper to maintain than dogs and are easily passed between different handlers. |
| So, from a business and economic point of view, the rats seem to make sense. Apopo provides a service paid for by a customer, usually a donor government or UN agency, so it is a business relationship. | So, from a business and economic point of view, the rats seem to make sense. Apopo provides a service paid for by a customer, usually a donor government or UN agency, so it is a business relationship. |
| However, the whole process is costly and time consuming, the money available usually only covers costs, so there are no profits to be had. This means that demining is never likely to be a commercially viable business. | However, the whole process is costly and time consuming, the money available usually only covers costs, so there are no profits to be had. This means that demining is never likely to be a commercially viable business. |
| Up to now, Apopo has relied on research and development grants. The problem, ironically, is that now the rats are a proven technology, these grants may begin to dry up. | Up to now, Apopo has relied on research and development grants. The problem, ironically, is that now the rats are a proven technology, these grants may begin to dry up. |
| New sustainable sources of income are needed. | New sustainable sources of income are needed. |
| TB tasks | TB tasks |
| This is where our financial expert and presenter, Alvin Hall, had some advice to offer. Apopo raises some funds through their website and it's Hero Rat campaign. Members of the public and companies can pay to sponsor and name a rat. | This is where our financial expert and presenter, Alvin Hall, had some advice to offer. Apopo raises some funds through their website and it's Hero Rat campaign. Members of the public and companies can pay to sponsor and name a rat. |
| Alvin was keen for them to maximise these opportunities, not least by increasing the minimum payment. | Alvin was keen for them to maximise these opportunities, not least by increasing the minimum payment. |
| And he advised them to try to establish a large endowment fund, which wealthy individuals, corporations or trusts could pay into, to give Apopo a secure source of income. | And he advised them to try to establish a large endowment fund, which wealthy individuals, corporations or trusts could pay into, to give Apopo a secure source of income. |
| APOPO Founded - 1997Revenue (2008) - 1.25m eurosLand cleared (2009) - 719,470 square metres Source: Apopo | APOPO Founded - 1997Revenue (2008) - 1.25m eurosLand cleared (2009) - 719,470 square metres Source: Apopo |
| But Bart's big hope for the future is to train the rats for a host of other detection applications, from finding smuggled drugs to medical screening. Apopo is already running trials in Tanzania using the rats to detect tuberculosis in the saliva of sick patients. | But Bart's big hope for the future is to train the rats for a host of other detection applications, from finding smuggled drugs to medical screening. Apopo is already running trials in Tanzania using the rats to detect tuberculosis in the saliva of sick patients. |
| The rats can process as many samples in a matter of minutes as a lab technician can in a day. The rats have even detected TB in samples that had been missed by conventional tests. | The rats can process as many samples in a matter of minutes as a lab technician can in a day. The rats have even detected TB in samples that had been missed by conventional tests. |
| 'Great job' | 'Great job' |
| Apopo hope to become a centre of excellence for the training and development of rodent detectors, leasing out their handlers and animals as needed and training different communities to use their own indigenous rodent species for their own detection needs. | Apopo hope to become a centre of excellence for the training and development of rodent detectors, leasing out their handlers and animals as needed and training different communities to use their own indigenous rodent species for their own detection needs. |
| Bart has had a great idea and Apopo is doing a great job putting his idea into practice. | Bart has had a great idea and Apopo is doing a great job putting his idea into practice. |
| But my fear is that as Apopo is the only de-mining organization using rats, one fatal oversight could be too much bad PR to handle. Selling rats as heroes is hard enough as it is. | But my fear is that as Apopo is the only de-mining organization using rats, one fatal oversight could be too much bad PR to handle. Selling rats as heroes is hard enough as it is. |
| When I finally reached the minefield and walked on ground that had been given the all clear by a rat the day before, I was definitely nervous. | When I finally reached the minefield and walked on ground that had been given the all clear by a rat the day before, I was definitely nervous. |
| Had any mines been missed? But what's harder to know is, was I more nervous than I would have been had it been cleared by a man and metal detector? Having never been in a minefield before, I just don't know. | Had any mines been missed? But what's harder to know is, was I more nervous than I would have been had it been cleared by a man and metal detector? Having never been in a minefield before, I just don't know. |
| Later, I was told that only days before, a human mine clearer from another organisation working in Mozambique had begun his lunch break by putting down his metal detector, walking back along a path he had just cleared, stood on a mine he had missed and was killed. | Later, I was told that only days before, a human mine clearer from another organisation working in Mozambique had begun his lunch break by putting down his metal detector, walking back along a path he had just cleared, stood on a mine he had missed and was killed. |
| So why should I trust a fallible human any more than an animal conditioned to believe it's survival is dependent on finding landmines? | So why should I trust a fallible human any more than an animal conditioned to believe it's survival is dependent on finding landmines? |