Gambian pouched rat: Difference between revisions

It has cheek pouches like a [[hamster]], which allow it to gather up several kilograms of nuts per night for storage underground. It has been known to stuff its pouches so full of [[date palm]] nuts so as to be hardly able to squeeze through the entrance of its burrow.{{cn|date=February 2019}} The burrow consists of a long passage with side alleys and several chambers, one for sleeping and the others for storage. The Gambian pouched rat reaches [[sexual maturity]] at 5–7 months of age. It has up to four litters every nine months, with up to six offspring in each litter. Males are territorial and tend to be aggressive when they encounter one another.

 

{{Main article|APOPO}}

A [[Tanzanian]] social enterprise founded by two Belgians, [[APOPO]] ("Anti-Personnel Landmines Removal Product Development" in English), trains Gambian pouched rats to detect [[land mine]]s and [[tuberculosis]] with their highly developed sense of smell. The trained pouched rats are called [[HeroRATS]]. The rats are far cheaper to train than mine-detecting dogs; a rat requires US$7,300 for nine months of training, whereas a dog costs about $25,000 for training, but lives about twice as long.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Tuberculosis detection by giant African pouched rats |year=2011 |publisher=U.S. National Institutes of Health |pmc=3089413 |last1=Poling |first1=A. |last2=Weetjens |first2=B. |last3=Cox |first3=C. |last4=Beyene |first4=N. |last5=Durgin |first5=A. |last6=Mahoney |first6=A. |journal=The Behavior Analyst |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=47–54 |doi=10.1007/BF03392234 |pmid=22532730 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Giant rats trained to sniff out tuberculosis in Africa |website=National Geographic |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/giant-rats-trained-sniff-out-tuberculosis-africa/ }}</ref>