The Hero Rats Project is training rodents to be sent into earthquake debris wearing tiny backpacks — so human rescuers can find and talk to stuck survivors. The innovative project is being worked on ...

Rodent trainer Neema Justin, 33, shares a moment with an African giant pouched rat after an exercise in detecting illegal wildlife products at the Apopo training facility in Morogoro, Tanzania.

African giant pouched rats, which have previously been trained to sniff out buried mines and detect tuberculosis, are now being used to stop smuggling in Tanzania, The Guardian reported. Endangered ...

MOROGORO, Tanzania — Often dismissed as pests, rats have long been misunderstood. But the African giant pouched rat (Cricetomys gambianus), the world’s longest, is challenging that perception. With ...