131. APOPO’s Highly Trained Rats Could Save Your Life with Dr. Cindy Fast

Dr. Cindy Fast tells us about the fascinating and groundbreaking work of an organization in Africa that has realized the potential in a common local animal, and turned it from “pest” to “hero.” Remarkable gains in landmine clearing, stopping the spread of tuberculosis, and even search and rescue techniques are being made… all from the discovery of a novel partnership: one between humans and… African giant pouched rats! Listen in to learn about the fantastic work of nonprofit, APOPO.  (00:00- 05:18) OPENING (05:19- 12:57) History of APOPO Article about hamsters African Giant Pouched rat The first rat I met was Courage Tanzania Minefields The way that I relate to the rats now is they remind me of the curious kitten Rats are clever and friendly We work with them as if they are colleagues (12:58- 15:46) BREAK (15:47- 30:37) Happy, theTuberculosis-detecting rat Rats have long lifespan, up to 65 years old Custom engineered cage 3 second detection Florida is a retirement environment for the rats Landmines history Mozambique Rats are perfect for landmine detection jobs compared to dogs Turkish Non-Profit Training rats that could save human lives Innovative in combining low tech and high tech solutions together Rats can actually sniff out a person in a guided search that a robot wouldn’t be able to do Technology enabled backpacks developed by engineering students in a Dutch university (30:38- 47:40) Tanzania as a nation is proud of their African Giant Pouched Rat APOPO is taking locally available, sustainable resource and developing it in a very cost efficient way that can then be used to solve challenges both locally and abroad Live landmines are laying in 65 countries Training rats to sniff out smuggled wildlife to help preserve endangered species Gold bravery award for landmine-detecting rat PDSA Magawa Cambodia Panya, Magawa road Morogoro, Tanzania No pet mentality Open-mind and willingness to learn Funding We started off with this idea about rats and landmines Tuberculosis Brucellosis (47:41- 59:55) I wish people knew there is a lot of negative influence in underestimating Impostor syndrome Dr. Cindy’s childhood and education Understanding the brain and how animals particularly the rodents experience the world through their nose Funding for operational trials It’s not enough to just demonstrate it in the lab, we have to demonstrate it in the operational setting Bringing the rats to Turkey Website: APOPO Adopt A Rat (59:56- 01:00:50) CLOSING