Rats and bombshells

Kofi goes out sniffing - Image from The Sun

Rats have had extreme reactions from us. They are either, “yuck” or they are very “cute.” But now we also know they are useful. Kofi, a Gambian rat at the Porfell Wildlife Park and Sanctuary near Liskeard, Cornwall, Britain is being trained by the staff to sniff out landmines. Kofi’s advantage is that he is too small to set off the mines himself, but at the same time his keen sense of smell can be used to detect the bomb casings.

Rats have been trained in Africa to hunt for land mines but Kofi is the first such rat to be trained in Britain. His handler Wendy Winstanley plans to inform the army and the police anti-terror units about her pet’s capabilities. She says that rats have a more heightened sense of smell than dogs and their biggest advantage is that they are much lighter. Kofi’s training process began when he was five weeks old like all other rats that undergo such training. Thirty such sniffer rats are already in use in Mozambique, Africa where they have already proved their worth. I guess Kofi is nothing less.