African giant pouched rats have been trained to identify pangolin scales, elephant ivory and other items from at-risk species, researchers report October 30 in Frontiers in Conservation Science. The animals could soon play a part in deterring the international wildlife trade.
The creatures have an incredible sense of smell. Plus, they’re agile and relatively inexpensive to care for. Other APOPO-trained rats can sniff out landmines and detect tuberculosis in mucus samples.
If rats can prove better detectives, will the canines lose their jobs? ;)
The market will decide... unless we let the rats and canines decide in the arena.
Dalle's rendition of a rat fighting a dog.
Haha!! The dog will still lose such a battle because the rats are very fast.