Giant Rats in Uniform Trained to Sniff Out Wildlife Trafficking

Rats Take the Lead in Wildlife Protection

In Morogoro, Tanzania, scientists are training African giant pouched rats to detect smuggled wildlife products.

Image collected from Frontiers, by APOPO

Mongabay reports, these rodents, known for their intelligence and strong sense of smell, are being prepared to uncover hidden items like pangolin scales, ivory, and rhino horns in cargo shipments.

Trafficked Animal Parts Image for Illustration Purposes Only

The initiative is led by APOPO, a nonprofit based at Sokoine University of Agriculture. The project builds on the rats’ past success in detecting landmines and tuberculosis. Now, researchers hope their sniffing skills can also help combat illegal wildlife trafficking.

From Landmines to Smuggled Wildlife

The idea dates back to the 1990s, when engineer Bart Weetjens founded APOPO to use rats for landmine detection. With a lifespan of up to 10 years and powerful noses, African giant pouched rats have since proven to be valuable partners in humanitarian work.

Mine Sniffing Rats, Image Credit: Rex Shutterstock

Eight of these rats are now being trained to find wildlife products in ports and airports, where smugglers often conceal them in sealed containers.

How the Rats Are Trained

“Every rat has its own personality,” says trainer Dora Hebert. Only rats that are confident and sociable continue past the early stages of training. Those that don’t engage well are retired to a separate enclosure.
The training focuses on two key abilities: recognizing the specific scent of trafficked products and signaling their detection.

Each rat wears a harness with a ball; when it finds a target scent, it pulls the ball to alert the trainer. As a reward, the rat is given a treat—typically a mix of banana, avocado, and food pellets.
Training takes place in simulated cargo environments to closely mimic real-world conditions.

Targeting Trafficking Hubs

Ports like Dar es Salaam are major exit points for trafficked wildlife in East Africa. According to TRAFFIC, a global wildlife trade watchdog, smugglers are constantly changing routes and hiding techniques, making detection difficult.

“The criminals are always one step ahead,” says TRAFFIC’s Mikala Lauridsen. She emphasised that new tools like trained rats can make a real difference.

First Results Show Promise

The rat-training project has been in development for six years. Preliminary studies published last year showed strong lab results. Now, the newest group of rats, in training for two years, is nearing field deployment.

“We’re approaching 90% accuracy in detection,” says lead researcher José Eduardo Reynoso Cruz. “The next step is reducing false positives and confirming performance in real-world conditions.”
The team is conducting trials at Dar es Salaam’s airport and seaport, replicating the challenges rats will face once deployed.

The Road Ahead

Despite their success, the rats are just one part of the solution. “Detection tools help, but we also need strong enforcement, coordination, and policy,” Lauridsen says.

Still, APOPO’s work suggests a promising future. If field trials continue to show strong results, these unusual crime fighters could play a major role in disrupting a global trade worth up to $20 billion annually.

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