‘Ratscue’: Rats might be the future of search and rescue missions

While tweeting a picture of a giant rat eating through a syringe, Kean wrote, “I train these clever creatures to save victims trapped in collapsed buildings after earthquakes. We kit them out with a rat backpack, and train them to trigger a switch when they find a victim & come back for a tasty treat 🐀 #herosnotpests #science #weirdjobs #WomenInSTEM”.

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The tweet went viral on Thursday and gathered over one lakh likes with people curiously engaging with her research.

I train these clever creatures to save victims trapped in collapsed buildings after earthquakes. We kit them out with a rat backpack, and train them to trigger a switch when they find a victim & come back for a tasty treat 🐀#herosnotpests #science #weirdjobs #WomenInSTEM pic.twitter.com/728IQv70NX

— Dr Donna Kean (@donnaeilidhkean) May 26, 2022

I knew rats were very intelligent animals, but I didn’t know they could be trained to do something as heroic as search and rescue work. Awesome!

— Joanna Kesler (@keslerjr) May 27, 2022

All mammals are intelligent and sentient. Even the ones we regard as vermin. It’s an inconvenient truth.

— Chris Smith (@ledredman) May 27, 2022

Well, I really love almost all animals. But I really dislike rats. They just make me shiver. Don’t want it but can’t help it.
This is the first time, I feel somehow sympathy, the pic is so cute!
Thank you!

— Holde Maid (@HoldeMaid666) May 26, 2022

Wow, really? That’s amazing. I had no idea rats were working as rescuers (outside of Disney movies, that is.) Thanks for the day brightener. pic.twitter.com/I00PJqzF2l

— Eleanour Snow (@docsnowtx) May 26, 2022

We do! All our rats are trained with positive reinforcement training only (=tasty treats), get regular playtime, and a retirement package when they no longer want to work. /I

— APOPO Science (@ApopoScience) May 27, 2022

The backpack will have 2-way audio so we can speak to survivors through the rat (pretty much exactly like start trek), and, yes, some form of location transmitter so that we can find them quickly!

— Dr Donna Kean (@donnaeilidhkean) May 26, 2022

YES. YES. YES. YES.

SEARCH AND RATSCUE https://t.co/1AQfXklE4Y

— Poem (@resolvedpoem) May 28, 2022

In an interview with Science, a journal produced by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Kean explained that she and her colleagues at APOPO had been training rats to follow a simple but impactful set of instructions that can help identify people who are trapped under debris.

So far in lab settings, the APOPO researchers have trained rats to scour areas, detect human presence, ring a sound to alert the rescuers about the person and return to starting points. Since the rats will be equipped with a GPS device, the rescuers will be able to pinpoint the location of the survivor.

Additionally, unlike most research associated with animals, APOPO’s training follows all ethical standards and rats “get regular playtime, and a retirement package” when they can no longer work.