Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Fides) - A group of Belgian researchers is working on a project to solve the problem of millions of land mines spread all over Africa. British daily The Guardian in its on line edition today, Friday 7 November 2003, reports that the Belgian scientists intend to used trained rodents to sniff out the explosive contained in the mines. African giant pouched rats were trained over three years to sniff out explosives at a test site in Tanzania. They spent two months in field trials among heavily mined areas of Mozambique along the banks of the Limpopo.
Scientists involved in the project said that rats were in many ways better mine-hunters than dogs. They learn quicker and do not get so personally attached to the owner, so they're easier to transfer to another trainer. Moreover rats, being lightweight, were easier to transport and less likely to set off mines accidentally.
It is estimated that there are at least 500000 antipersonnel mines hidden in the soil of Mozambique a sad heritage of civil wars 1976-1992. (L.M.) (Fides Service 7/11/2003, lines 17 words 185)
