Rats wearing tiny backpacks are being trained to search for earthquake survivors buried beneath rubble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mice, location trackers, and video equipment can be carried by the rodents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr Donna Kean, 33, of Glasgow, has been training the animals in Tanzania, East Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Rats would be able to get into small spaces to reach victims buried under rubble,” she explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We have the ability to communicate with victims via the rat.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The rodents are also taught to respond to a ‘beep,’ which summons them back to the cage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“They are extremely adept at surviving in a variety of environments, demonstrating their suitability for search and rescue work.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Donna is collaborating with the non-profit organization APOPO, which has previously trained African pouched rats to detect landmines and detect tuberculosis from human sputum samples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“They are very trainable,” she said. “The first stage is to train them to return to base point – they respond to a beep.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rats wearing tiny backpacks are being trained to search for earthquake survivors buried beneath rubble.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[612],"class_list":["post-17998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-earthquake"],"yoast_head":"\n