Tanzanian rats will train to sniff out trafficked pangolins
Tanzanian rats will train to sniff out trafficked pangolins
Christopher Torchia, Associated Press
Updated 4:34 pm, Sunday, November 20, 2016
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The pangolin, a scaly anteater coveted by poachers, might have a new champion: rats that will be trained to sniff out trafficked pangolin parts in shipments heading from Africa to Asia.
A pilot project to turn African giant pouched rats into conservationist sleuths is literally in its infancy — the 10 to 15 rodents being reared in Tanzania to detect pungent pangolin remains as well as smuggled hardwood timber are just a few weeks old and most are still with their mothers.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service , however, is on board with the vermin trial, which organizers hope can eventually be used to find hidden elephant ivory and rhino horn. The American agency has provided $100,000 to support what it says could be "an innovative tool in combating illegal wildlife trade."
. . .
Conservationists describe the pangolin as the world's most heavily trafficked mammal because its meat is considered a delicacy in Vietnam and some parts of China, and its scales are used in traditional Chinese medicine. Wildlife contraband is concealed among vast numbers of shipping containers that annually leave Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, Mombasa in Kenya and other African ports.
More:
http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Tanzanian-rats-will-train-to-sniff-out-trafficked-10626286.php#photo-11836904
[center]
= new reply since forum marked as read