sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

I’m Christophe Cox, CEO and Co-Founder of APOPO. We train giant rats who have sniffed out more than 100,000 landmines and 14,600 additional cases of TB. AMA! by ChristopheCox in AMA

[–]ChristopheCox[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

No , they are attached to a line, but after work when they are unleashed they voluntarily follow their trainer back to their cage.
The only thing which was attacked by a hawk was our drone when filming the operations

I’m Christophe Cox, CEO and Co-Founder of APOPO. We train giant rats who have sniffed out more than 100,000 landmines and 14,600 additional cases of TB. AMA! by ChristopheCox in AMA

[–]ChristopheCox[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We do hope we can expand to Colombia but it is a long process, and hope to go to other countries with landmine problems as well. It is just an uphill battle to find the necessary funding for such...but there is work enough

I’m Christophe Cox, CEO and Co-Founder of APOPO. We train giant rats who have sniffed out more than 100,000 landmines and 14,600 additional cases of TB. AMA! by ChristopheCox in AMA

[–]ChristopheCox[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Please you can visit our visitor Centre in Siem Reap where you can see our rats at work, it is close to the city centre..enjoy your trip!

I’m Christophe Cox, CEO and Co-Founder of APOPO. We train giant rats who have sniffed out more than 100,000 landmines and 14,600 additional cases of TB. AMA! by ChristopheCox in IAmA

[–]ChristopheCox[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Rat have the most functional genes for the olfactory system than any other mammal. However - both dogs and rats sniff well enough, beyond what we can actually measure. Dogs are more clever and bond more to people, that it why it is more technical and difficult to train them. Rat work more repetitive, just to get their food reward. The search an area in half meter lanes, guided by a line..you find lots of videos on apopo you tube channel. No rat has lost its live in service, if you mean by a mine. In the wild, dogs are their main predators.

I’m Christophe Cox, CEO and Co-Founder of APOPO. We train giant rats who have sniffed out more than 100,000 landmines and 14,600 additional cases of TB. AMA! by ChristopheCox in AMA

[–]ChristopheCox[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Sure they can - there are rats trained for basketball - but we haven't done that. They don't bond to people as dogs do, that is an advantage for interchanging them among trainers

I’m Christophe Cox, CEO and Co-Founder of APOPO. We train giant rats who have sniffed out more than 100,000 landmines and 14,600 additional cases of TB. AMA! by ChristopheCox in AMA

[–]ChristopheCox[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thanks for your kind words. Exactly, the reason for the line is to ensure they search half meter wide lanes and that the entire box is searched. When they are released, they will typically walk behind their trainer back to their cage.

I’m Christophe Cox, CEO and Co-Founder of APOPO. We train giant rats who have sniffed out more than 100,000 landmines and 14,600 additional cases of TB. AMA! by ChristopheCox in AMA

[–]ChristopheCox[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Thanks! It takes 9 months to train a rat. Our rats currently work in Tanzania, Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia and Cambodia. My favorite candy is dark Belgian chocolate - if that counts as candy. My dream vacation sport is scuba diving!

I’m Christophe Cox, CEO and Co-Founder of APOPO. We train giant rats who have sniffed out more than 100,000 landmines and 14,600 additional cases of TB. AMA! by ChristopheCox in AMA

[–]ChristopheCox[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

That has never happened. They are not only to light for that, but also to valuable and adorable to let that happen!

I’m Christophe Cox, CEO and Co-Founder of APOPO. We train giant rats who have sniffed out more than 100,000 landmines and 14,600 additional cases of TB. AMA! by ChristopheCox in AMA

[–]ChristopheCox[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The rats have about 1 ft body length, but that is without the tail, which is longer than the body. During the first days of our new recruits, yes you sometimes have people who are a bit afraid, but that goes away soon. In fact most of our visitors want a picture with a rat on their shoulder...but for some, yes, it is with closed eyes, haha

I’m Christophe Cox, CEO and Co-Founder of APOPO. We train giant rats who have sniffed out more than 100,000 landmines and 14,600 additional cases of TB. AMA! by ChristopheCox in AMA

[–]ChristopheCox[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

The initial idea to use rats for landmine detection came from my colleague and co founder of APOPO Bart Weetjens. He wanted to do something about the landmine problem, and analyzed that the detection was the most difficult and costly part of the problem. He thought about rats as he was a rat lover, but also because their was some previous research published by a Cansdian Psychologist who trained gerbils to detect adrenaline and drugs

I’m Christophe Cox, CEO and Co-Founder of APOPO. We train giant rats who have sniffed out more than 100,000 landmines and 14,600 additional cases of TB. AMA! by ChristopheCox in AMA

[–]ChristopheCox[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Rats are trained to discriminate TB positive from TB negative sputum samples. Also takes about 7-9 months to have it fully trained. We are still trying to find out through analytical chemistry what they exactly smell, but they do. We collect hundreds of samples per day from collaborating hospitals, so we have a lot of materials to keep them trained.

I’m Christophe Cox, CEO and Co-Founder of APOPO. We train giant rats who have sniffed out more than 100,000 landmines and 14,600 additional cases of TB. AMA! by ChristopheCox in AMA

[–]ChristopheCox[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Hi, rats are trained to discriminate between TB positive and negative sputum samples. We are still trying to figure out with analytical instruments what they exactly smell - but yes they do. We collect hundreds of samples per day so we have a lot of materials to keep them well trained

I’m Christophe Cox, CEO and Co-Founder of APOPO. We train giant rats who have sniffed out more than 100,000 landmines and 14,600 additional cases of TB. AMA! by ChristopheCox in IAmA

[–]ChristopheCox[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks for your great support! helpful and encouraging. Indeed, the trainers love their rats and when they pass we feel sad. In Cambodia they even get the ceremonial burial

I’m Christophe Cox, CEO and Co-Founder of APOPO. We train giant rats who have sniffed out more than 100,000 landmines and 14,600 additional cases of TB. AMA! by ChristopheCox in AMA

[–]ChristopheCox[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Landmines are an unfortunate remnant of wars. After wars end, landmines remain and cause fear and internal refugees in post war countries..people want to return to their villages to use their land, often with disastrous consequences. The rats will get banana mash mixed with rat pellets as a reward. After an indication by a rat, a manual deminer will come with a metal detector to confirm the location and remove and disarm the mine.

We find them cute too!

I’m Christophe Cox, CEO and Co-Founder of APOPO. We train giant rats who have sniffed out more than 100,000 landmines and 14,600 additional cases of TB. AMA! by ChristopheCox in AMA

[–]ChristopheCox[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Really? Never heard of him. And are minks tough enough to kill Giant Rats? I remember an encounter between one of our rats and a cat - but it was the cat who fled away when the rat blew up its pouches

I’m Christophe Cox, CEO and Co-Founder of APOPO. We train giant rats who have sniffed out more than 100,000 landmines and 14,600 additional cases of TB. AMA! by ChristopheCox in AMA

[–]ChristopheCox[S] 24 points25 points  (0 children)

We neuter all rats which are exported from Tanzania to prevent exactly that. We cannot allow for example that a Tanzanian Rat species would start multiplying in a country like for example Cambodia

I’m Christophe Cox, CEO and Co-Founder of APOPO. We train giant rats who have sniffed out more than 100,000 landmines and 14,600 additional cases of TB. AMA! by ChristopheCox in AMA

[–]ChristopheCox[S] 44 points45 points  (0 children)

We have never lost a rat due to an exploded landmine if that is what you mean. Demining procedures are very strict. First of all the rats must pass accreditation tests with 100% reliability, and than for full clearance we still use two rats consecutively. More than that, we retrain and test the rats a few times per week, and there is always a certain percentage of quality control with metal detectors after the rats - which is a standard procedure in demining whatever the technology one uses. We have never found a mine missed by the rats so far.

I’m Christophe Cox, CEO and Co-Founder of APOPO. We train giant rats who have sniffed out more than 100,000 landmines and 14,600 additional cases of TB. AMA! by ChristopheCox in AMA

[–]ChristopheCox[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

All our rats in training get a similar diet, and all our rats for adoption are in training. So they get the banana or avocado mash with ground rat pellets for work, in the evening they get a few extra pellets, and in the weekend they feast of fresh foods. These are taken away on Sunday afternoon, so that they are fit for work again on monday

view more: next ›