Preparation of rat-sappers in Tanzania and Mozambique

In Tanzania and Mozambique continues purposeful training rats sappers: now these areas will be cleared of mines by means of small rodents sniffer.

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1. Rat on a tiny leash constantly sniffs everything in the Tanzanian field where a Dutch non-governmental organization APOP teaches his quest min. Other rats trained under the same scheme, and they have helped to clear mines from the vast wetlands in neighboring Mozambique. (YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP / Getty Images)





2. Two two-Krysenko coach taught to walk on a specific path by using a special crossbar, which allows the animal to move strongly forward and backward. (YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP / Getty Images)



3. With an amazing sense of smell and unpretentious character, African pouched rats proved excellent bloodhounds. The organization APOPO started this first project of its kind to teach these and other rodents finding mines and other explosives. (YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP / Getty Images)



4. Rodents are trained to find an item in the TNT mines, guided by the simple psychology of behavior: as soon as the rat will make the right move, the sound of "click" will mean for her prize in the form of snacks. (YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP / Getty Images)



5. "Detection of mines - the most difficult and dangerous part of the job sapper. Rats in the plan fit just perfect because they are easier to nadressirovat than dogs ", - says the founder of APOPO Bart Uitens. (YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP / Getty Images)



6. clean the area of ​​200 square meters. meter two sappers go all day, but if they work with rats, bloodhounds, they will spend it in two hours. "Rats are very effective. We have made great strides in this regard. They have helped to clear an area of ​​2 million square meters. meters in Mozambique. " (YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP / Getty Images)



7. Other rats in the same project trained differently - they are taught by the smell to detect tuberculosis in laboratory samples of saliva. (YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP / Getty Images)



8. Training begins in the fourth week of life in rats. First, animals weaned to be afraid of people, and the new situation. After that, they are taught to associate a clicking sound with a reward. (YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP / Getty Images)



9. Then, the rats are trained to distinguish the smell of TNT from other odors. Once they find it, you hear a click, and give them a piece of banana. (YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP / Getty Images)



10. The development in rats the ability to detect explosives usually takes up to nine months of hard work. (YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP / Getty Images)



11. "It is very hard work - says the coach Abdullah Mchomvu. - We must be patient. Sometimes I'm disappointed, but then I tell myself that this is just the animals, but from our work may depend on someone's life. " (YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP / Getty Images)



12. APOPO also launched a special a special project that allows individuals and legal entities to contribute to the education and training of sniffer rats, in exchange for a certificate allowing the animals pick themselves. (YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP / Getty Images)



13. Uitens says that their next project would be training rats to detect drugs or the survivors of the disaster. (YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP / Getty Images)



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