Dr. Cindy Fast tells us about the fascinating and groundbreaking work of an organization in Africa that has realized the potential in a common local animal, and turned it from “pest” to “hero.” Remarkable gains in landmine clearing, stopping the spread of tuberculosis, and even search and rescue techniques are being made… all from the discovery of a novel partnership: one between humans and… African giant pouched rats! Listen in to learn about the fantastic work of nonprofit, APOPO. 
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History of APOPO

Article about hamsters

African Giant Pouched rat

The first rat I met was Courage

Tanzania

Minefields

The way that I relate to the rats now is they remind me of the curious kitten

Rats are clever and friendly

We work with them as if they are colleagues


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Happy, theTuberculosis-detecting rat

Rats have long lifespan, up to 65 years old

Custom engineered cage

3 second detection

Florida is a retirement environment for the rats

Landmines history

Mozambique

Rats are perfect for landmine detection jobs compared to dogs

Turkish Non-Profit

Training rats that could save human lives

Innovative in combining low tech and high tech solutions together

Rats can actually sniff out a person in a guided search that a robot wouldn’t be able to do

Technology enabled backpacks developed by engineering students in a Dutch university


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Tanzania as a nation is proud of their African Giant Pouched Rat

APOPO is taking locally available, sustainable resource and developing it in a very cost efficient way that can then be used to solve challenges both locally and abroad

Live landmines are laying in 65 countries

Training rats to sniff out smuggled wildlife to help preserve endangered species

Gold bravery award for landmine-detecting rat

PDSA

Magawa

Cambodia

Panya, Magawa road

Morogoro, Tanzania

No pet mentality

Open-mind and willingness to learn

Funding

We started off with this idea about rats and landmines

Tuberculosis

Brucellosis


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I wish people knew there is a lot of negative influence in underestimating

Impostor syndrome

Dr. Cindy’s childhood and education

Understanding the brain and how animals particularly the rodents experience the world through their nose

Funding for operational trials

It’s not enough to just demonstrate it in the lab, we have to demonstrate it in the operational setting

Bringing the rats to Turkey

Website: APOPO

Adopt A Rat


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