These Rats With Tiny Backpacks And Microphones May Soon Become The Heroes Of Search And Rescue Operations
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BoredPanda staff You're born with a mission. A mission attributed to you by the person that cares for you the most. You work tirelessly, training and learning the majority of your youth, only taking some breaks for food and socialization. You get sent out into the world and you're certain of your capability to save lives and make the world a better place. Saving people, hunting things-the family business. You're a natural at it. A local hero. Yet, some only take one glance at you and sneer. Others scream and run. Regardless of your training and hours spent saving lives, you'll always be a rat. No, literally. Scientists at an organization called APOPO are training rats for all kinds of life-saving missions. From mine detection to survivor detection in earthquake debris, these rats are quite incredible. And yet, the negative limelight following the rodent might dampen its heroics. APOPO have been very kind to share their story with Bored Panda, so, let's dive into the details! More info: APOPO Instagram
Previously a Senior Video Editor, she is now pursuing Writing as her main interest. Alongside this, she is a passionate artist and painter, as well as a creator on TikTok. She enjoys baking, learning new languages and watching True Crime documentaries on Netflix.
If you enjoy happy, inspiring, and heartwarming content, give her a follow! You can also reach her at [email protected] Read more » Get the latest inspiring stories via our awesome iOS app! Download Bored Panda app! You May Like The “WeRateDogs” Twitter Account With 9M Followers Rates People's Dogs, And It's As Hilarious As It Is Wholesome (50 New Pics) Indrė Lukošiūtė "Cats Who Share One Braincell": 50 Times Cats Acted So Dorky, Their Pics Ended Up On This Twitter Page Mantas Kačerauskas Pet Owners Use Non-Toxic Face Paint To Turn Their Animals Into Creepy Skeletons For Halloween Dovas Popular on Bored Panda Woman Shows How "Harry Potter" Characters Were Supposed To Look According To Book Descriptions (35 Pics) 50 ‘Weird Facts’ About The World That Might Give You A Fresh Perspective Overworked Employee Quits Because He Wasn't Getting A Fair Wage, Costs The Company $40 Million 40 Embarrassing Moments People Didn't Know Who They Were Talking To And Made A Fool Of Themselves 30 Of The Most Hectic Homes As Shared On 'The Broke Agent' Instagram Account Bride Doesn't Include Wedding Dinner Price In Her Wedding Invites, Is Surprised To See Many Guests Canceling On Her After They Find Out Woman Shows How "Harry Potter" Characters Were Supposed To Look According To Book Descriptions (35 Pics) 50 ‘Weird Facts’ About The World That Might Give You A Fresh Perspective Overworked Employee Quits Because He Wasn't Getting A Fair Wage, Costs The Company $40 Million Join the conversation POST Jenn C Jenn C Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago I volunteer to foster these clever ratties when they retire! 26 26points reply Groundcontroltomajortom Groundcontroltomajortom Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Me too! They're so cute 8 8points reply Load More Replies... Yubo Yubo Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Rats are wonderful pets!! But you have to get two. If you only get one, they do not live as long. 18 18points reply Marion Friedl Marion Friedl Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago That´s true, but at least one of both pet rats should be spayed/neutered, or you´ll take (adopt in the best case) 2 male or 2 female rats. If you read my comments above you´ll see that I do not have any prejudices against rats, in the contrary, but I have a 15 year old adopted senior tomcat named Thori who probably wouldn´t want to have a rat as "furriend". 7 7points reply Load More Replies... Yubo Yubo Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago My daughter had two female rats when she was in high school. I know what you mean about the cat. We have our grand-cat living with us and he brings us squirrels and full grown rabbits!! I know it's instinctual for the cat, but it breaks my heart. I think if you put a shovel anywhere in our back yard, you will dig up one of his conquests. 0 0points reply Brittany Copeland Brittany Copeland Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Sometimes they thrive alone; I've had a few that had to be kept separated for various reasons. Unless it was a medical issue, they always seemed to last for a good long while. One, a girl named Evie, lived to be almost 5 y/o (which is incredible considering the average life of domestic fancy rats is about 3). 1 1point reply Karen Baker Karen Baker Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago They definitely prefer a friend. One of my two males passed, and I don't believe Percy would do well with a youngster. We give him love every evening during his most active time, and he's doing great by himself. 1 1point reply Emma Salsbury Emma Salsbury Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago We have a rat that escaped when he was a baby and was on the loose for 3 months! When we eventually caught him we couldn't put him back in with his brother (who by then had moved in with our older rat). He has got used to being alone and is very nasty to his brother now. His brother was traumatised when we tried to reintroduce them . So he'll have to live alone forever now. He's a lovely rat, gets lots of love and attention, just not from other rats. 1 1point reply Bittersweetie Bittersweetie Community Member • points posts comments upvotes 1 month ago Next time I think danger is coming I'll quickly put in my chest pocket my ID and a lovely slice of cheddar. 13 13points reply Load More Comments POST Jenn C Jenn C Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago I volunteer to foster these clever ratties when they retire! 26 26points reply Groundcontroltomajortom Groundcontroltomajortom Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Me too! They're so cute 8 8points reply Load More Replies... Yubo Yubo Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Rats are wonderful pets!! But you have to get two. If you only get one, they do not live as long. 18 18points reply Marion Friedl Marion Friedl Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago That´s true, but at least one of both pet rats should be spayed/neutered, or you´ll take (adopt in the best case) 2 male or 2 female rats. If you read my comments above you´ll see that I do not have any prejudices against rats, in the contrary, but I have a 15 year old adopted senior tomcat named Thori who probably wouldn´t want to have a rat as "furriend". 7 7points reply Load More Replies... Yubo Yubo Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago My daughter had two female rats when she was in high school. I know what you mean about the cat. We have our grand-cat living with us and he brings us squirrels and full grown rabbits!! I know it's instinctual for the cat, but it breaks my heart. I think if you put a shovel anywhere in our back yard, you will dig up one of his conquests. 0 0points reply Brittany Copeland Brittany Copeland Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Sometimes they thrive alone; I've had a few that had to be kept separated for various reasons. Unless it was a medical issue, they always seemed to last for a good long while. One, a girl named Evie, lived to be almost 5 y/o (which is incredible considering the average life of domestic fancy rats is about 3). 1 1point reply Karen Baker Karen Baker Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago They definitely prefer a friend. One of my two males passed, and I don't believe Percy would do well with a youngster. We give him love every evening during his most active time, and he's doing great by himself. 1 1point reply Emma Salsbury Emma Salsbury Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago We have a rat that escaped when he was a baby and was on the loose for 3 months! When we eventually caught him we couldn't put him back in with his brother (who by then had moved in with our older rat). He has got used to being alone and is very nasty to his brother now. His brother was traumatised when we tried to reintroduce them . So he'll have to live alone forever now. He's a lovely rat, gets lots of love and attention, just not from other rats. 1 1point reply Bittersweetie Bittersweetie Community Member • points posts comments upvotes 1 month ago Next time I think danger is coming I'll quickly put in my chest pocket my ID and a lovely slice of cheddar. 13 13points reply Load More Comments Popular on Bored Panda I Used AI To See What These 23 Popular Cartoon Characters Would Look Like In Real Life 30 Y.O. 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These Rats With Tiny Backpacks And Microphones May Soon Become The Heroes Of Search And Rescue Operations Interview
Eglė RadžiūtėBoredPanda staff You're born with a mission. A mission attributed to you by the person that cares for you the most. You work tirelessly, training and learning the majority of your youth, only taking some breaks for food and socialization. You get sent out into the world and you're certain of your capability to save lives and make the world a better place. Saving people, hunting things-the family business. You're a natural at it. A local hero. Yet, some only take one glance at you and sneer. Others scream and run. Regardless of your training and hours spent saving lives, you'll always be a rat. No, literally. Scientists at an organization called APOPO are training rats for all kinds of life-saving missions. From mine detection to survivor detection in earthquake debris, these rats are quite incredible. And yet, the negative limelight following the rodent might dampen its heroics. APOPO have been very kind to share their story with Bored Panda, so, let's dive into the details! More info: APOPO Instagram
Rats are being trained to be sent into post-earthquake debris to help find survivors and those stuck and in need of assistance
Image credits: donnaeilidhkean When you think of a rat wearing a backpack you may think of a very scholarly mouse on its way to learn some very interesting facts about the birth of the cheese wheel. However, these not-so-little rodents are off on a mission to save lives!They ll be outfitted with tiny backpacks equipped with location trackers and microphones so the rescue team can pinpoint survivors location and condition
Image credits: APOPO Rats are being trained to be sent into post-earthquake debris to help find survivors or those stuck and in need of assistance. They're outfitted with tiny backpacks equipped with location trackers, cameras and microphones for the rescue teams to better pinpoint the location and condition of survivors. Using mock debris and prototype backpacks, it seems the researchers are making good progress in what could become the go-to means of finding earthquake survivors. The rodents will get the chance to work in the field when they are sent to earthquake-prone Turkey to work with a search and rescue team, GEA. Image credits: APOPOThe innovative project is being worked on by research scientist Dr Donna Kean So far seven rats have been trained for the task
Image credits: APOPO The innovative project is being worked on by 33-year-old research scientist Dr. Donna Kean from Glasgow, Scotland. So far, seven rats have been trained for the task. On average, it takes about 9 months to a year to train the rats. "They are very good at surviving in different environments which just shows how suitable they are for search and rescue work," she told Wales Online. Dr. Kean has been working with the nonprofit organization APOPO for over a year now with the special rodents lovingly nicknamed HeroRATS Based in Morogoro, Tanzania, East Africa. The organization has been using the rodents for all kinds of life-saving projects, such as landmine and tuberculosis detection, and now, as we see here, they are delving into training rats for search and rescue and for wildlife detection. At the moment, the organization is training around 170 rats, and researchers are exploring other avenues as to where they could excel. They hope that the rodents can one day sniff out brucellosis, an infectious disease which impacts livestock, but that avenue remains to be looked into. Image credits: APOPOShe works with APOPO based in Tanzania East Africa training rodents lovingly nicknamed HeroRATS They also train rats to detect landmines and tuberculosis
Image credits: APOPO "The rats' natural scavenger abilities lend well to training them for search & rescue," Lily Shallom, Communications Manager at APOPO, told Bored Panda. "At this point the search & rescue rat training is going very well but we are still quite some ways from being operational. Rats are highly underestimated!" "APOPO's HeroRATS have helped free over 1.8 million people from the threat of landmines and other unexploded remnants of war and prevented at least 250,000 people from getting TB whilst saving 25,000 lives," Lily said. Image credits: APOPOThey have been using African giant pouched rats as they re used to the tropical climate and are resilient to many tropical diseases
Image credits: APOPO They have been using African giant pouched rats as they re used to the tropical climate and are resilient to many tropical diseases. The rats get treated like top-class royalty, with regular nutritious meals, lots of pets, and weekly health reports. Although you may be concerned for the wellbeing of these little critters, APOPO assure that the majority of their rats live to the end of their expected life span and that none of them have ever died as a result of their detection work. The nimble creatures are light and agile, making them perfect for use in disaster zones. Image credits: APOPO Image credits: APOPO Although we've seen dogs used in similar types of work, rats may just have some advantages. As Dr. Kean explained to Science.org: "The rats have a comparable sense of smell, and they're just as trainable as dogs. They also aren't tied to just one trainer, which is what you find with dogs. And their size is useful because they will be able to penetrate into areas with dense rubble and debris that dogs just wouldn't be able to." "The life span of our rats in captivity is roughly 8 years but we have rats that have lived up to 10 to 11 years in retirement," she added.APOPO assure that the majority of their rats live to the end of their expected life span and that none of them have ever died as a result of their detection work
Image credits: APOPO Sadly, rats have a very bad rep. Many people assume that they're disease-ridden and dirty. The plague of the 1300s didn't help much, as all the blame fell on the rodents; however, research has shown that maybe we blamed the wrong species for one of the most horrendous disease outbreaks in human history. Katharine R. Dean et al. argue that the Black Death can be largely ascribed to human fleas and body lice. "We have good mortality data from outbreaks in nine cities in Europe," Prof. Nils Stenseth, from the University of Oslo, told BBC News. "So we could construct models of the disease dynamics." Image credits: APOPOSadly rats have a very bad rep with many assuming that they re disease-ridden and dirty However they re proving themselves to be very social agile and intelligent
Image credits: APOPO In seven out of the nine cities studied, the 'human parasite model' was a much better match for the pattern of the outbreak. It mirrored how quickly it spread and how many people it affected. "The conclusion was very clear," said Prof. Stenseth. "The lice model fits best. It would be unlikely to spread as fast as it did if it was transmitted by rats. It would have to go through this extra loop of the rats, rather than being spread from person to person." Image credits: APOPOAlthough this particular training is still in its beginning stages the results seem incredibly promising and soon rats may join dogs as the new service animal
Image credits: APOPO Dr. Kean, fueled by a fascination with how quickly rats can learn and be trained, believes that the sociable creatures will one day be seen as saviors of life rather than disease-spreading rodents. The training process is quite fascinating in its own right. The first thing they teach the rats to do is to return to their starting point. Once there, the researchers played a beep and fed them a reward of "powdered rat pellets mixed with avocado and banana through a syringe." "Then we trained the rats to pull a rubber ball on their backpack," Dr. Kean said. "The ball is attached to a microswitch, which emits a beep. In the real world, it would provide a signal to rescuers. When they were reliably doing that, we'd start introducing a target human." "The goal is for the rat to go over to this mock victim, pull the ball, return to where they were released from when they hear the beep." Image credits: APOPO Image credits: APOPO Dr. Kean acknowledged the fact that some people may be weary of rats, "but wherever they're introduced and used for this purpose, there can be marketing campaigns so people know that this can happen." "They'll also have a backpack on, and they'll have a microphone, light, and camera. There can be audio coming from the backpack that potentially says, "I am a RescueRat, I'm here to help you," that kind of thing," she said. "Sadly, many people don't know enough about rats and what comes to mind when they think of rats: Disease, death, or the creatures scampering just a feet away from you on the subway," Lily explained. "It's time to rethink everything people ever thought about rats and discover the truth about these amazing creatures and their intelligence."We look forward to updates and wish both the researchers and the rats all the best
Image credits: APOPO The research is exciting to say the least, and although this particular training of finding humans in debris is still in its beginning stages, the results seem incredibly promising. Guess we'll have to get over our fear of rats and start embracing the rodents as service animals. It will be interesting to see how quickly this develops and how it works in a real-life emergency. According to Dr. Kean, "It would just be a case of as soon as an earthquake happens, arranging the transport" and letting the rats do the work. If you'd like to support the initiative, you can adopt one of their rats by following the link here. "We'd really appreciate the help!" Image credits: APOPOPeople seem quite fond of the idea as it may be a means for rats to clear their name Let us know your thoughts in the comments below
Image credits: APOPO We look forward to updates and wish both the researchers and the rats all the best Let us know your thoughts on the initiative in the comments below! What would you think of a rat coming to your rescue? Are they a resource we've been sleeping on? Also, don't forget to upvote and follow the author for more interesting stories! Anyone can write on Bored Panda. Start writing! Follow Bored Panda on Google News! Follow us on Flipboard.com/@boredpanda! Share on Facebook Eglė Radžiūtė Follow Unfollow Eglė Radžiūtė Author, BoredPanda staff Egle is a Content Creator at Bored Panda, specializing in Good News. She has a First-Class Bachelor's Degree in Film and Creative Writing from the University of Essex, and has studied subjects such as Propaganda & Film, Sci-fi Writing, Psychiatry & History of Mental Illness, and more.Previously a Senior Video Editor, she is now pursuing Writing as her main interest. Alongside this, she is a passionate artist and painter, as well as a creator on TikTok. She enjoys baking, learning new languages and watching True Crime documentaries on Netflix.
If you enjoy happy, inspiring, and heartwarming content, give her a follow! You can also reach her at [email protected] Read more » Get the latest inspiring stories via our awesome iOS app! Download Bored Panda app! You May Like The “WeRateDogs” Twitter Account With 9M Followers Rates People's Dogs, And It's As Hilarious As It Is Wholesome (50 New Pics) Indrė Lukošiūtė "Cats Who Share One Braincell": 50 Times Cats Acted So Dorky, Their Pics Ended Up On This Twitter Page Mantas Kačerauskas Pet Owners Use Non-Toxic Face Paint To Turn Their Animals Into Creepy Skeletons For Halloween Dovas Popular on Bored Panda Woman Shows How "Harry Potter" Characters Were Supposed To Look According To Book Descriptions (35 Pics) 50 ‘Weird Facts’ About The World That Might Give You A Fresh Perspective Overworked Employee Quits Because He Wasn't Getting A Fair Wage, Costs The Company $40 Million 40 Embarrassing Moments People Didn't Know Who They Were Talking To And Made A Fool Of Themselves 30 Of The Most Hectic Homes As Shared On 'The Broke Agent' Instagram Account Bride Doesn't Include Wedding Dinner Price In Her Wedding Invites, Is Surprised To See Many Guests Canceling On Her After They Find Out Woman Shows How "Harry Potter" Characters Were Supposed To Look According To Book Descriptions (35 Pics) 50 ‘Weird Facts’ About The World That Might Give You A Fresh Perspective Overworked Employee Quits Because He Wasn't Getting A Fair Wage, Costs The Company $40 Million Join the conversation POST Jenn C Jenn C Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago I volunteer to foster these clever ratties when they retire! 26 26points reply Groundcontroltomajortom Groundcontroltomajortom Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Me too! They're so cute 8 8points reply Load More Replies... Yubo Yubo Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Rats are wonderful pets!! But you have to get two. If you only get one, they do not live as long. 18 18points reply Marion Friedl Marion Friedl Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago That´s true, but at least one of both pet rats should be spayed/neutered, or you´ll take (adopt in the best case) 2 male or 2 female rats. If you read my comments above you´ll see that I do not have any prejudices against rats, in the contrary, but I have a 15 year old adopted senior tomcat named Thori who probably wouldn´t want to have a rat as "furriend". 7 7points reply Load More Replies... Yubo Yubo Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago My daughter had two female rats when she was in high school. I know what you mean about the cat. We have our grand-cat living with us and he brings us squirrels and full grown rabbits!! I know it's instinctual for the cat, but it breaks my heart. I think if you put a shovel anywhere in our back yard, you will dig up one of his conquests. 0 0points reply Brittany Copeland Brittany Copeland Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Sometimes they thrive alone; I've had a few that had to be kept separated for various reasons. Unless it was a medical issue, they always seemed to last for a good long while. One, a girl named Evie, lived to be almost 5 y/o (which is incredible considering the average life of domestic fancy rats is about 3). 1 1point reply Karen Baker Karen Baker Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago They definitely prefer a friend. One of my two males passed, and I don't believe Percy would do well with a youngster. We give him love every evening during his most active time, and he's doing great by himself. 1 1point reply Emma Salsbury Emma Salsbury Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago We have a rat that escaped when he was a baby and was on the loose for 3 months! When we eventually caught him we couldn't put him back in with his brother (who by then had moved in with our older rat). He has got used to being alone and is very nasty to his brother now. His brother was traumatised when we tried to reintroduce them . So he'll have to live alone forever now. He's a lovely rat, gets lots of love and attention, just not from other rats. 1 1point reply Bittersweetie Bittersweetie Community Member • points posts comments upvotes 1 month ago Next time I think danger is coming I'll quickly put in my chest pocket my ID and a lovely slice of cheddar. 13 13points reply Load More Comments POST Jenn C Jenn C Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago I volunteer to foster these clever ratties when they retire! 26 26points reply Groundcontroltomajortom Groundcontroltomajortom Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Me too! They're so cute 8 8points reply Load More Replies... Yubo Yubo Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Rats are wonderful pets!! But you have to get two. If you only get one, they do not live as long. 18 18points reply Marion Friedl Marion Friedl Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago That´s true, but at least one of both pet rats should be spayed/neutered, or you´ll take (adopt in the best case) 2 male or 2 female rats. If you read my comments above you´ll see that I do not have any prejudices against rats, in the contrary, but I have a 15 year old adopted senior tomcat named Thori who probably wouldn´t want to have a rat as "furriend". 7 7points reply Load More Replies... Yubo Yubo Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago My daughter had two female rats when she was in high school. I know what you mean about the cat. We have our grand-cat living with us and he brings us squirrels and full grown rabbits!! I know it's instinctual for the cat, but it breaks my heart. I think if you put a shovel anywhere in our back yard, you will dig up one of his conquests. 0 0points reply Brittany Copeland Brittany Copeland Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Sometimes they thrive alone; I've had a few that had to be kept separated for various reasons. Unless it was a medical issue, they always seemed to last for a good long while. One, a girl named Evie, lived to be almost 5 y/o (which is incredible considering the average life of domestic fancy rats is about 3). 1 1point reply Karen Baker Karen Baker Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago They definitely prefer a friend. One of my two males passed, and I don't believe Percy would do well with a youngster. We give him love every evening during his most active time, and he's doing great by himself. 1 1point reply Emma Salsbury Emma Salsbury Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago We have a rat that escaped when he was a baby and was on the loose for 3 months! When we eventually caught him we couldn't put him back in with his brother (who by then had moved in with our older rat). He has got used to being alone and is very nasty to his brother now. His brother was traumatised when we tried to reintroduce them . So he'll have to live alone forever now. He's a lovely rat, gets lots of love and attention, just not from other rats. 1 1point reply Bittersweetie Bittersweetie Community Member • points posts comments upvotes 1 month ago Next time I think danger is coming I'll quickly put in my chest pocket my ID and a lovely slice of cheddar. 13 13points reply Load More Comments Popular on Bored Panda I Used AI To See What These 23 Popular Cartoon Characters Would Look Like In Real Life 30 Y.O. 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