Giant African rats may soon be the key to fighting illegal wildlife trafficking. New research from nonprofit APOPO, published Oct. 29, shows that African giant pouched rats can be trained to ...

Giant African rats, already used to sniff out land mines, can do the same for smuggled rhino horns, elephant tusks and other common contraband, researchers report.

The intelligent rodents have a particularly keen nose and have been previously trained to detect landmines and tuberculosis.

African giant pouched rats can detect illegally trafficked wildlife, even when it has been concealed among other substances. Source: APOPO, used with permission. The scale of the illegal wildlife ...