This week, to pass a quiet afternoon, I went to the APOPO Landmine Rat centre, on the outskirts of the city, and I learnt something quite extraordinary. Between 1965 and 1998 Cambodia was literally battered and bombed by civil unrest and the US bombing campaign on neighbouring Vietnam. Despite years of concerted clean up efforts there are still more than 1000km2 of unexploded landmines in the country. There are more than 40,000 amputees in Cambodia and 32 people have been killed by them this year alone.
Since the cleanup operations started in the 1990s more than 4 million unexploded landmines have been cleared, but there are still around 6 million to go. The most common method to detect mines is with metal detectors which can be deadly work. A landmine clearing charity, called APOPO, trains giant African rats to use their incredible sense of smell to sniff the TNT in landmines. They are so adept that they can clear an area the size of a tennis court in 20 minutes whereas it would take a human 4 days.
The tour of the centre included watching one of these rats in action, wearing a harness and sniffing in a straight lines backwards and forwards within a defined area. Once the rat had found the ‘landmine’ he started scratching enthusiastically to indicate his find, whilst he ignored a dummy hidden ‘landmine’.
I found this the most extraordinary sight and started to develop and deep affection for a creature I would normally despise. So much so, that when the guide asked if anyone wanted to hold a Hero Rat called Glenn, I was the first to volunteer. I was told to wash both arms thoroughly before I was allowed to handle Glenn. It isn’t often you are told to make sure you are clean enough to handle a rat…. Glenn was very gentle and soft, but unfortunately he developed an unhealthy interest in my friendship brackets which he started to gnaw enthusiastically.
As the rats are nocturnal they only work from 6-9am and spend the rest of the time eating premium food, sleeping and going to the rat gym, (yes really) to keep them in shape. When they retire at the age of 6 they move to a luxurious Rat Retirement village to see out the rest of their days. Whilst rats are eaten here, I certainly won’t be choosing them on the menu, actually I don’t think I would have anyway…
I now have a profound respect for these rodents and I realise not all rats are bad, some are Heroes…
