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Rats in mine clearing?
Civil wars and armed conflicts have left mines in many parts of the world, especially in Asia and Africa.
Left in the ground, mines can stay hidden for years or decades, and prevent walking on or using large amounts of land.
A non profit organization from Denmark offers an original approach making this land productive again- training rats to clear mine fields.
Rats’ strong sense of smell makes them ideal helpers to sniff explosives and signal their human handlers to the location of a buried mine.
The rat mine clearing method is currently used in Mozambique and it will will be introduced in Angola, and Cambodia.
It may take a week for a human to clear a field of 1000 sq.ft. (around 100 sq.m). It may take several days for a dog to clear the same size field. However, it takes several hours for a rat to do the same task.
And, unlike dogs, they do not get bored by the same repetitive and mundane mission.
What is the reward for the rat who finds a mine?
A banana.