Landmine sniffing rats

 


Did you know that rats can learn to sniff out landmines in 12 months with the correct training. While in Cambodia we got to learn a lot of history about war and landmines.

 My family and I went to a visitor center to discover the removal of landmines using giant african pouched rats. I was a bit skeptical on how rats could sniff out landmines but learnt that the rats are trained to smell TNT.  They are  rewarded from their trainers with food for finding them. They don't set off the mines because they are not heavy  enough. The rats are attached to a 10 meter leash  and can scan the size of a tennis court in 30 minutes. These rats have found over 2000 mines in Cambodia.

 We continued our learning that day by going to the war museum. Since Cambodia has been a part of many conflicts there are a lot of weapons and war vehicles still in the country. One soldier from the Cambodian military has collected tanks, guns, landmines, a helicopter and a plane. Many of the tanks came from Russia, China and the USA.  We explored  these weapons at the museum which was once a war field.

I have  become very intrigued in Cambodian  history and I will further explore how the many wars within the country have changed the lives of the Cambodian people.

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