title: Using trained pouched rats to detect land mines: another victory for operant conditioning.
abstract: We used giant African pouched rats (Cricetomys gambianus) as land mine-detection animals in Mozambique because they have an excellent sense of smell, weigh too little to activate mines, and are native to sub-Saharan Africa, and therefore are resistant to local parasites and diseases. In 2009 the rats searched 93,400 m(2) of land, finding 41 mines and 54 other explosive devices. Humans with metal detectors found no additional mines. On average, the rats emitted 0.33 false alarm for every 100 m(2) searched, which is below the threshold given by International Mine Action Standards for accrediting mine-detection animals. These findings indicate that Cricetomys are accurate mine-detection animals and merit continued use in this capacity.
authors.affiliation: Anti-Persoonsmijnen Ontmijnende Product Ontwikkeling. alan.poling@wmich.edu
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Poling
authors.forename: Bart
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Weetjens
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cox
authors.forename: Negussie W
authors.initials: NW
authors.lastname: Beyene
authors.forename: Harvard
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bach
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sully
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D001753:Blast Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000502:physiology*; D004782:Environmental Health / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008906:Mining; D012377:Rodentia / Q000502:physiology*; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*