Scientists train rats to find earthquake survivors while carrying tiny backpacks with built-in microphones so rescue teams can find and talk to them.
The research scientist Dr. Donna Kean, 33, from Glasgow, spent the past year working in Morogoro, Tanzania for the non-profit organization APOPO on a project called Hero Rats.
The team is constructing special backpacks with built-in microphones, video equipment and tracking devices that attach to rats so rescue teams can communicate with survivors in real earthquakes.
Scientists are currently sending them into simulated rubble to simulate a rescue operation in a natural disaster.
Scientists train rats to find earthquake survivors while carrying tiny backpacks with built-in microphones so rescue teams can find and talk to them
The rats are soon sent to Turkey where they get a chance to work in the field, with the search and rescue team GAE agreeing to bring the rat unit to justice
Kean said: “Rats could enter small spaces to get to victims buried in rubble.
“We haven’t been in a real situation yet, we have an apparent rubble site.”
The rodents are trained to respond to a beep that calls them back to base.
“When we get the new backpacks, we can hear where we’re stationed and where the rat is in the rubble,” she said.
“We have the potential to talk about the rat with victims,” Kean added.
One of her colleagues, a seamstress, makes the backpacks.
Seven rats have been trained so far, and it took the scientists just two weeks to get them up to speed.
The rats will soon be sent to Turkey where they will get a chance to work in the fields.
The country is at risk of earthquakes, and the search and rescue team GAE agrees to bring the rat squad to justice.
dr Donna Kean is pictured with Jo the rat. Donna has been living in Morogoro, Tanzania, East Africa for a year and works with the non-profit organization APOPO for the Hero Rats project.
Kean, who studied ecology at Strathclyde University before earning an MA from the University of Kent and a PhD from Stirling University, says she was originally interested in primate behavior
“They’re so agile, they’re so good at moving through all sorts of different environments,” Kean said. “They are perfect for search and rescue work. You can live on anything’
Venance Kiria, left, Jo the rat and Dr. Donna Kean, right, are pictured. The team is constructing special backpacks with built-in microphones, video equipment and tracking devices that attach to rats so rescue teams can communicate with survivors in real earthquakes
But the project is growing, training rats to do increasingly complex tasks.
Problems the researchers believe trained rats can help with include clearing landmines, tuberculosis and detecting brucellosis, an infectious disease that affects livestock.
Rats are agile and light enough that they are unlikely to set off a land mine.
Kean, who studied ecology at Strathclyde University before earning an MA from the University of Kent and a PhD from Stirling University, says she was originally interested in primate behavior.
She said it was a misconception that rats were unsanitary, describing them as gregarious creatures that could be quickly trained to save lives.
“They’re so agile, they’re so good at moving through all sorts of different environments,” Kean said. “They are perfect for search and rescue work. You can live on anything.«
TAPOPO is the only organization working with rats, while other groups focus on training dogs.
Rats have an advantage over dogs because of their small size and flexibility.
“We hope it will save lives, the results are really promising,” she concluded.
Seven rats have been trained so far, and it took the scientists just two weeks to get them up to speed
Food reward syringes are used to feed the rats that are to be sent to earthquake zones
The mock debris site used to train the rats is shown. Rats have an advantage over dogs because of their small size and flexibility