Giant African pouched rats (Cricetomys gambianus) that work on tilled soil accurately detect land mines

Timothy L Edwards; Christophe Cox; Bart Weetjens; Tesfazghi Tewelde; Alan Poling

doi:10.1002/jaba.214

Giant African pouched rats (Cricetomys gambianus) that work on tilled soil accurately detect land mines

J Appl Behav Anal. 2015 Sep;48(3):696-700. doi: 10.1002/jaba.214. Epub 2015 May 11.

Authors

Timothy L Edwards¹, Christophe Cox¹, Bart Weetjens¹, Tesfazghi Tewelde¹, Alan Poling^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Anti-persoonsmijnen Ontminjende Produce Ontwikkeling (apopo).
² Western Michigan University.

PMID: 25962550
DOI: 10.1002/jaba.214

Abstract

Pouched rats were employed as mine-detection animals in a quality-control application where they searched for mines in areas previously processed by a mechanical tiller. The rats located 58 mines and fragments in this 28,050-m(2) area with a false indication rate of 0.4 responses per 100 m(2) . Humans with metal detectors found no mines that were not located by the rats. These findings indicate that pouched rats can accurately detect land mines in disturbed soil and suggest that they can play multiple roles in humanitarian demining.

Keywords: land mines; mechanical demining; mine-detection animals; pouched rats (Cricetomys gambianus).

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Behavior, Animal / physiology*
Exploratory Behavior / physiology*
Rodentia / physiology*
Soil

Substances

Soil