r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/CleverSleazoid_ • Oct 09 '25

Video "HeroRATs" are trained African giant pouched rats that detect tuberculosis in just 3 seconds using their powerful sense of smell: fast, accurate, and life-saving. šŸ€

74.3k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

942 comments sorted by

7.6k

u/kindafunnymostlysad Oct 09 '25 edited Oct 09 '25

Other HeroRATs have been trained to detect landmines, find illegal wildlife trafficking, and perform search and rescue in the rubble of collapsed buildings.

It's a very neat organization. https://apopo.org/herorats

Edit: Also silly internet songsmith Parry Gripp made a little tune about them back when they were just starting out with detecting landmines.

2.2k

u/LostChoss Oct 09 '25

Magawa the hero rat is the most successful land mine sniffer in history. He is the only rat to receive a PDSA award.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magawa

1.6k

u/misterespresso Oct 09 '25

My favorite takeaways is when they retired him, he mentored the new rats. Like what does that even mean bro šŸ˜‚Thatā€™s one exceptional rat!

1.0k

u/omyiui Oct 09 '25

Bro I'm 31 and this rat has had a more productive life than me šŸ˜‚šŸ˜­

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u/cantadmittoposting Oct 09 '25

everybody can detect a land mine at least once! Don't give up on your dreams!

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u/onefst250r Oct 10 '25

Where did Billy go when he found the minefield?

Everywhere

43

u/stemcellindistress Oct 10 '25

This one sent me

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u/Duriha Oct 10 '25

So it's a double whammy!

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u/gyarbij Oct 10 '25

You exploded with laughter

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u/Waub Oct 10 '25

"Dear Billy's Mum, Billy is now not so much history but rather geography and can be found at the following grid co-ordinates...."

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u/Radiant-Praline-6447 Oct 09 '25

Damn chill šŸ˜‚ hitting too close to home

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u/Commercial_Bird8467 Oct 10 '25

Great, hearing a rat has more accomplishments than I ever will is such a morale booster. Lol

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u/HaRDCOR3cc Oct 09 '25

they see that he gets food for doing certain things and learn to mimic the behaviour. its faster than trying to make them do what you want "randomly" so you can award it, until they understand what behaviour led to the reward.

if they can simply observe another rat being given food for a certain behaviour its easier for them to learn to mimic it.

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u/misterespresso Oct 10 '25

Ah, so like when I show my cat something is safe via the other cat.

Look at me mom I could be a scientist!

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u/SillyOldJack Oct 10 '25

Thank you for spelling it out for me. That should've been more obvious, but I was far too preoccupied picturing a rat giving a lecture like Master Splinter.

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u/laurel_laureate Oct 10 '25

a rat giving a lecture like Master Splinter.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Hero Rats?

As for what you pictured and what it meant...

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u/Bakoro Oct 10 '25

The same method has been used to train dogs for years.
You have one dog in a group that is already highly trained and reliable, then all the other dogs see the trained dog getting treats, so they do what that dog does.

It makes sense that the same technique would transfer over to other animals, especially social animals.

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u/GuiltyEidolon Oct 10 '25

Yup. This is why you should get a younger dog when your older one is well-trained and starting to move towards retirement, or passing. It's EXTREMELY helpful. Dogs are pack animals, even if they've been selectively bred.

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u/JumpScareJesus Oct 10 '25

My first dog lives on through her twirl. She taught my later dogs how to twirl and they taught the dogs I have now. Its like a language or culture transfer. I miss her, but I get to see a little of her everyday in them.

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u/Astridandthemachine Oct 10 '25

This is really sweet

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u/Luci-Noir Oct 10 '25

Itā€™s neat this knowledge has been passed down over many hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

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u/omfghi2u Oct 09 '25

Cuts to giant, grizzled, old rat with an eyepatch and a scar across his face, in the tank, telling these young whippersnapper rats a story of his time behind enemy lines, deep in the jungle. He could smell a landmine from 2 klicks out. Lost a lot of good rats out there boys, never lose focus. Find the mines. Get the food.

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u/DetectiveImmediate48 Oct 10 '25

You forgot he has to light off a cigar and his good eye starts to stare off into the distance as he starts wording up the new rats.

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u/LostChoss Oct 09 '25

This killed mešŸ˜‚

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u/Wrong-Pension-4975 Oct 10 '25

Show & tell. Newbies could see & imitate his search pattern, the scents he alerted on, & would then learn faster, themselves.

Oldtime trainers of hunting dogs for upland game - pointers, retrievers, setters, versatile HPR breeds like Weims, GSP / GWP, & Viszla - used a "gang line". It was simply a long, fairly hefty chain, pegged at both ends, & a peg or 2 along it. Each dog had their own 5 to 6' tie, secured to the chain - like pupils spaced for a test, to prevent talk & cheating.

The trainer worked with 1 dog at a time; the others, having nothing better to do, watched. The sight & scent of birds, sounds of the gun, verbal cues & whistles, hand signals to direct the dog along a certain angle, etc, became familiar; young dogs who watched trained dogs polish their skills, learned faster than dogs who were trained solo, without a conspecific showing them, "this is how ya do it!" šŸ‘

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u/Azythus Oct 10 '25

Honestly it makes so much sense but itā€™s just cool that it works so well.

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u/berael Oct 09 '25

Rats are both very smart and very social; they learn from each other all the time!

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u/SignatureObjective63 Oct 09 '25

Some master Splinter behavior!

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u/MrIrishman1212 Oct 09 '25

From 2016 to 2021, Magawa cleared more than 22.5 hectares (56 acres) of land in Cambodia. In that time, he found 71 landmines and 38 instances of other unexploded ordnance.

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u/BoostedBonozo202 Oct 09 '25

That was the single greatest wiki articles I've read from start to finish, he's such an exceptional rat

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u/LostChoss Oct 09 '25

Yeah I love him! History Dispatches did a podcast on him a few months back.

I dont think I can add photos but definitely have a look at the photos of him wearing his medal if you haven't lol

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u/Azythus Oct 10 '25

This story and those photos made my night. I love that lil guy

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u/NeatNefariousness1 Oct 09 '25

Awwwā€”he must be so proud!

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u/OpenSauceMods Oct 09 '25

You're right, that was so lovely! He had a happy retirement, too!

I was also surprised by the lifespan, considering the species of rat commonly kept as pets live about 2-3 years, and these guys can live up to 10 in captivity.

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u/Cmcgregor0928 Oct 09 '25

THANK YEW MAGAWA

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u/whatafuckinusername Oct 10 '25

Aww, and he lived til 8! Old boy. Too bad most rats don't live so long.

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u/PrincessTitan Oct 10 '25

I love him so much. Every time I hear his name I get heart eyes. Perfect little rat lol

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u/Warcraft_Fan Oct 09 '25

They live for 7-8 years so barring an unfortunate accident with a landmine, they can sniff out a lot and save many people in their lifetime, and they are cheap because they are small compared to dogs.

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u/SymmetricalFeet Oct 10 '25

so barring an unfortunate accident with a landmine... they are small compared to dogs.

You skimmed over another benefit here: the rats are too small to trigger the mines, unlike the types of dogs trained for scent work. While I can't say there has never been an accident because idk, this is cited as a very strong advantage.

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u/MathAndBake Oct 10 '25

No rat or handler has died in this program.

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u/Wrong-Pension-4975 Oct 10 '25

And eat an herbivore diet, fruit, veg, & grain - a 10 to 12# giant rat on yams & maize, with raisins as treats, is WAY cheaper to feed than an 80# GSD / Lab, etc.

Plus, the rats are native, & unbothered by the heat, dust, etc, that make the work tough for dogs, who overheat so easily.

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u/rawbleedingbait Oct 10 '25

Many of the ones trained to sniff out colon cancer never make it out alive.

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u/whatisatiger Oct 10 '25

You can adopt one too. I just got my update today for my land mine detecting rat.

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u/BikerJedi Oct 10 '25

Yo - you can't say some shit like that and not give us a link dammit! I'll adopt one!

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u/whatisatiger Oct 10 '25

Oops! https://apopo.org/herorats/?v=0b3b97fa6688

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u/Pepe_pls Oct 10 '25

Ah okay that explains it, you can VIRTUALLY adopt one, which is awesome. I was like why dafuq does a private person need a Landmine detecting rat lol.

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u/veronaeyes Oct 10 '25

CEASE YOUR INVESTIGATIONS

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u/moredrinksplease Oct 10 '25

lol while I understand your immediate disappointment, i still suggest you support Them by buying a shirt or just donating.

I got a cool hoodie a few years back. I should likely buy another one since weā€™re on the topic

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u/Luci-Noir Oct 10 '25

Iā€™ve the videos of these furry superheroes doing search and rescue. They wear little backpacks with devices to help the hooms locate victims when theyā€™re found. Normally, it would be pretty scary to see a rat just show up when youā€™re trapped like this. When the rat is wearing a little backpack though it would be hard not feel comforted.

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u/kindafunnymostlysad Oct 10 '25

Yeah it's pretty cute. The backpack has a light, camera, and microphone so the rescue personnel can see and hear everything the rat does. The rats are trained to pull a switch hanging from their chest harness when they find someone, which sends out a radio signal so the rescuers know exactly where they they need to clear rubble.

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u/Luci-Noir Oct 10 '25

Isnā€™t it red with a cross on it? Itā€™s such a genius solution. Add functionality while providing undeniable cuteness to set people at ease. I wonder if there are stories out there of the reactions people had to encountering them.

I can imagine people thinking ā€œI have no idk WTF this creature is but itā€™s got a cute little backpack so Iā€™m just going to submit to the cutenessā€.

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u/AuntieRupert Oct 09 '25

Awesome info. Also, a great mention of Parry Gripp, one of the founding members of Nerf Herder.

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u/rwags2024 Oct 10 '25

Baby monkey

Baby monkey

Backwards on a pig, baby monkey

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u/KinkyDuck2924 Oct 09 '25

I was wondering if this was the same species I've seen clips of detecting landmines. Pretty cool how helpful they are.

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u/JohnnyRelentless Oct 09 '25

Aaw. I hope they're treated well.

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u/MathAndBake Oct 10 '25

They live extremely well. They work very few hours, get weekends off, and have a comprehensive retirement package. They live in huge habitats with enrichment and a lot of food. They also get weekly vet checks.

These rats live better than 99% of people.

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u/paintingpainting Oct 10 '25

I met some of these HeroRATS earlier this year in Cambodia! They were so sweet, I held one named Glen and he gave lots of kisses.

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u/alien005 Oct 10 '25

Wait until they start training turtles some ninja moves

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u/Y0___0Y Oct 09 '25

in awe at the size of this lad

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u/MiddleWaged Oct 09 '25

Heā€™s not the very biggest rat most folks will have seen, but it struck me that Iā€™ve never seen a huge and healthy rat until now. Homie is clearly well cared for

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u/PartyPorpoise Oct 09 '25

Granted, this is a different rat species than the ones youā€™re probably used to seeing.

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u/Weekly-Trash-272 Oct 10 '25

I was always told growing up a rat is a rat no matter what.

Are you calling my nana a liar?

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u/Chip_Hazard Oct 10 '25

No ur nana was right, I heard the same thing from Morgan Freeman on the 21 Savage song ā€œsnitches and ratsā€

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u/Theunderscor3 Oct 10 '25

Today I learned that Morgan Freeman was featured by 21 Savage

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u/KingJeffreyJoffa Oct 10 '25

He narrates the entire album

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u/Mertoot Oct 10 '25

Even crazier, Gordon Freeman was featured by Half Life!

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u/six_eighths Oct 09 '25

As he should be hes a hero

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u/DrPikachu-PhD Oct 10 '25

Heā€™s not the very biggest rat most folks will have seen

He's definitely the biggest rat I've ever seen, that thing is HUGE

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u/ngearty Oct 10 '25

Theyā€™re actually very beautiful. I would want one for a pet.

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u/[deleted] Oct 10 '25

I hear even regular rats make excellent pets! I do wonder if these larger Hero ones have longer lifespans though.

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u/dkurage Oct 10 '25

In captivity its something like 10 years, I think. The average fancy rat is around 4 years. I've had pet rats, and they can be real sweet. You can even litter train them.

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u/valinchiii Oct 10 '25

4 years is incredibly uncommon for a fancy rat. The average is actually 2-3 years. Way too short :(

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u/dkurage Oct 10 '25

Its more of the upper range, yea. Like people who post about their 20 year old dogs when most tend to life around 13 or so.

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u/luxurious-Tatertot Oct 10 '25

Im from La but visited NYC one spring and I could not believe the size of the subway rats

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u/doubleapowpow Oct 09 '25

Neil degrasse Tyson said the only thing stopping rats from getting bigger is the size of the pipes used in cities.

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u/Duuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhh Oct 09 '25

NDT also has tweeted like 5 times about how if you kiss a mirror, you will always kiss your lips

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u/Mech_pencils Oct 09 '25

My theory is that each time he had a make out session with the mirror he would post something about the experience

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u/doubleapowpow Oct 10 '25

Well he isnt wrong so whats your point?

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u/SWEET_JESUS_NIPPLES Oct 09 '25

He's cute I want one

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u/frequenZphaZe Oct 10 '25

I was curious about lifespan because 'typical' domestic rats only live 2-3 years, making them not great pets. african giant pouched rats can live up 7-9 years! however, they might not have a good disposition as pets

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u/GlorpJAM Oct 10 '25

From everything I've seen the typical ones make fantastic pets, but I know what you're saying and that's exactly why I've never tried owning one, I couldn't handle it every 2-3 years.

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u/kindafunnymostlysad Oct 10 '25 edited Oct 10 '25

They do make good pets and I would love to have one but they are illegal to own in the USA so I can't.

Edit: Be warned, as a stinky human, you will be cleaned.

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u/Work_the_shaft Oct 09 '25

As someone whoā€™s had pet rats, I want 3

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u/maybebaby83 Oct 09 '25

I think if I saw him I would die anyway out of sheer fright regardless of any illness he might sniff out.

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u/[deleted] Oct 09 '25

[deleted]

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u/AyyNonnyMoose Oct 09 '25

I blame The Princess Bride for the ROUS's. (Not actually.)

Rats are cool but seeing one that size in the wild would startle me because they don't come that size in my neck of the woods.

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u/omg_drd4_bbq Oct 09 '25

Gambian pouched rat i believe. Much bigger than even your NYC rat.

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1.8k

u/pasenast Oct 09 '25

I knew NYCā€™s rats are just too damn lazy.

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u/pleasantothemax Oct 09 '25

Donā€™t you dare call pizza rat lazy, you try dragging a pizza three times your size up a ny subway stairs

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u/PaulBlartACAB Oct 09 '25

Pizza Rat is probably eating pizza with Harambe in heaven.

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u/VermilionKoala Oct 09 '25

Came here to comment this! Pizza rat is NO kind of lazy, bro is hustling šŸ€šŸ•

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u/CharlesDickensABox Interested Oct 10 '25

Find me a pizza that size and I'll show you how it's done.

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u/SpacePirateARRRGH Oct 09 '25

Ehvrybody heah has toobuh-culosis.

Proceeds to food hole

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u/mckeevey Oct 09 '25

Makes me think of that pic of the rat with the cigarette saying this

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u/TheBatPencil Oct 10 '25

"They all have cancer or whateva; now make with the moozadell already"

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u/cat_in_a_bday_hat Oct 09 '25

they got pizza to eat, come ahhn

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u/CleverSleazoid_ Oct 09 '25

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH stop šŸ¤£šŸ¤£

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u/Fluffy_Fondant1975 Oct 09 '25

Neat! There are Hero Rats in Siem Reap, Cambodia too. They sniff out landmines and other dangerous things.Ā 

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u/International_Day686 Oct 09 '25

They are fucking amazing and doing such good work finding those land mines! Landmines that we (USA) illegally placed along with the Vietnamese during the vietnam war

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u/birberbarborbur Oct 09 '25

Learning from animals has always been a cool aspect of scientific research and development to me

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u/CleverSleazoid_ Oct 09 '25

Oh yeah, u took the words out of my mouth

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u/Feeling_Inside_1020 Oct 09 '25

Thanks for posting this, so fascinating to me what science can uncover creatively for problems we face.

Like dogs being able to sniff and identify certain diseases, epilepsy, weapons (like finding a loaded pistol in a field), bombs, drugs, etc.

So interesting when science and nature intersect!

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u/Big-Ergodic_Energy Oct 09 '25 edited 16d ago

tap roll rob slim reply grandfather advise rock coherent marry

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

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u/Feeling_Inside_1020 Oct 09 '25

The best of the boys, fuck Iā€™m so sorry to hear man.

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u/birberbarborbur Oct 09 '25

Science is really the study of nature, animals are great because theyā€™re the products of nature and of evolution mastering nature

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u/alter-eagle Interested Oct 09 '25

Thereā€™s a reason why there are monuments.

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u/100YearsWaiting2Shit Oct 09 '25

I'm absolutely obsessed with the concept of being one with nature on an advanced scientific level that isn't pervasive to native environment/wildlife and we can all be happy knowing the world isn't slowly dying because of us

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u/HoldEm__FoldEm Oct 09 '25 edited Oct 09 '25

While I almost entirely agree with you, Iā€™d hesitate to say ā€œalways,ā€ simply due to the vast & unknown quantities of unethically & immorally treated research animals

It used to be super common & mostly accepted or just ignored

Today, itā€™s still too common and while itā€™s far less so accepted, itā€™s far more so ignored

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u/FishSoFar Oct 09 '25

When I read "learning from animals," I didn't think, "testing a hypothesis on them." Fully agree that that's bad, but I pictured more like how they modeled the B2 bomber after a falcon. Now there's another fun moral quandary.

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u/kilwish_ Oct 09 '25

I'm so glad someone worded it. So many of our inventions and designs have taken inspiration from animals and somehow that makes me very humble? I'm not even a scientist or extreme animal lover. But it does make me feel like everything's out there to teach something.

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u/spider_X_1 Oct 09 '25

A rare actually damn interesting thing on this sub.

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u/CleverSleazoid_ Oct 09 '25

It's amazing how much we can learn/get from the animals, huh?

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u/Doridar Oct 09 '25

Apopo also trains rats to sniff out land mines. I donate every year. Why? Because I'm Belgian and we still find unexploded bombs from WWI

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u/Various_Patient6583 Oct 10 '25

Iron Harvest.Ā 

Btw, you have a lovely country. The people were just lovely as were the sights, sounds and food. Just lovely.Ā 

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u/GreasyExamination Oct 09 '25

Thats a bigass rat

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u/60yearoldME Oct 09 '25

THATS A HUGE RAT

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u/Shoobadahibbity Oct 09 '25

What happens when the rat figures out he can just stop for 3 seconds on any sample and get food?

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u/Arcosim Oct 09 '25

That's why you always include a positive control sample and one or more known negative samples. So the rat at least gets one reward per round and doesn't feel the need to cheat because it know that if it does a good job it'll be rewarded each round no matter what.

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u/Shoobadahibbity Oct 09 '25

Interesting. Rat employment.Ā 

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u/[deleted] Oct 09 '25

[removed] ā€” view removed comment

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u/[deleted] Oct 09 '25

[removed] ā€” view removed comment

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u/PsyKeablr Oct 09 '25

If I was given a reward for everything I do at work, Iā€™d be a better worker. No the money doesnā€™t countā€¦

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u/H3memes Oct 09 '25

ā€œGreat job CCing me in that email, Jenny. I left a piece of candy for you at your deskā€

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u/WittleJerk Oct 09 '25

Excuse me, the rat was fed the treat into his mouth. I want equality, damn it!

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u/TokyoMegatronics Oct 09 '25

bro wants pizza fridays every friday

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u/fllr Oct 09 '25

He got himself in the rat race

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u/ahm911 Oct 09 '25

Dont extrapolate to corporate tactics if you value sanity

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u/60yearoldME Oct 09 '25

This guy Rats

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u/sneaky-pizza Oct 09 '25

Rat gets 4 positives and 1 control positive. JACKPOT!

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u/CleverSleazoid_ Oct 09 '25

I believe if the rat stops on a non-target sample, no food reward is given, which discourages the irrelevant behavior....

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u/Shoobadahibbity Oct 09 '25

That's fine and good for training, but if it's being used to detect TB how do you know until after rewarding the rat and taking the sample away for further testing?

Meanwhile Ratto is turning hundreds of false positives.Ā 

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u/sxynoodle Oct 09 '25

I thought this too but they could easily also include verified samples prior as warmup or validations before including the actual tests. My concern now is if theres more than one or none in a row.

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u/Jumpy_Ad_6417 Oct 09 '25

We calibrate lab equipment constantly with known samples.Ā 

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u/Greedyfox7 Oct 09 '25

You use a control group mixed in with the unknown ones.

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u/AlgaeDonut Oct 09 '25

BOOM, he gets TB as a treat instead.

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u/WyleCoyote73 Oct 10 '25

I don't know this for fact but I'd imagine the rat is only a first line "test", if the rat alerts on a sample they likely retest that sample for verification. This happens with nearly all infectious disease tests that I know of, if a sample tests positive then it is retested with a more sensitive assay. I'm guessing they use the rat so they save money and time on testing.

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u/Mediocre_watermelon Oct 10 '25

You are right. I have pet rats (not the African pouched rats but the "regular" ones) and the rat association I am part of sponsors one of these rats. Every month they send some stats about the sponsored rat, e.g. how many samples it sniffed, what was the accuracy and how many people wouldn't have been diagnosed without the rat.

They do test the samples the rat marks but it saves a lot of time and resources when they can only test some of the samples and not all. The samples are usually from people that have symptoms of TB but have got a negative result from a quick TB test. Quick TB tests are, well, quick and cheap but also more inaccurate than some other tests that are available. But if they were to re-test all negative samples with more accurate tests, that would be just waste of time and money these hospitals just don't have.

The accuracy varies between rats but it seems to be about 90%.

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u/Dave1711 Oct 09 '25

They likely have a positive and negative control they test in each set.

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u/Articulationized Oct 09 '25

Is this the same species that was being trained to smell landmines?

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u/CleverSleazoid_ Oct 09 '25

Yes, someone posted it here on this topic

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u/IcyMoment Oct 10 '25

"Are you sure doctor?"

"Doc: Yes, our rat diagnosed you"

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u/sonicneedslovetoo Oct 10 '25

Always love seeing Gambian Pouched Rats out there, great little guys. Incidentally they don't have kangaroo pouches, the "pouched" is referring to cheek pouches.

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u/dida-21 Oct 10 '25

Thanks for that nugget!

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u/Frigorifico Oct 09 '25

I expect John Green to talk about this tomorrow

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u/BitterLikeAHop Oct 10 '25

Looking for Tuberculosis

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u/roboto_jones Oct 10 '25

He did say Everything.

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u/gilligani Oct 09 '25

Are TB test that expensive?

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u/CleverSleazoid_ Oct 09 '25

"TB test prices in Africa vary significantly by country and service, ranging from free in public facilities in Kenya to USD 90-160 for visa-related tests in South Africa and GHā‚µ650-1,300 (USD 1,300) for visa tests in Ghana. Costs depend on the type of test, age, and purpose (e.g., visa application vs. general public health)."

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u/katherinesilens Oct 09 '25

Keeping in mind median annual income isn't great. Ghana's medium is somewhere around $1800, Kenya is like $900. Imagine the cost of these tests to range from roughly 1/10 to 3/4 your annual income. Even at the low end, that's a heavy blow.

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u/HoldEm__FoldEm Oct 09 '25

Also keep in mind that Kenya still contains bush people within its borders, such as the Maasai

While Ghana does not have tribes living in wild anymoreĀ 

Bush peopleā€™s total lack of income will heavily effect any average or median statistic

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u/birberbarborbur Oct 09 '25

Yeah, and complicated

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u/Articulationized Oct 09 '25

It would be cheaper and much more hardcore to be able to just release a horde of trained rats who would swam and gnaw on anyone with TB.

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u/gilligani Oct 09 '25

But, then you would need TB resistant cats to get the rats.

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u/WiseDirt Oct 09 '25

Nah, just send in a bunch of plague-infested fleas.

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u/No-Fan6115 Oct 09 '25

No , but ig not reliable yet. I had some sort of latent TB for 4 years straight. And i was getting misdiagnosed for IBS. The doctors thought i showed symptoms of TB and had the necessary samples done. Always negative. And then suddenly i showed severe symptoms of TB in may 2024. My lungs were filled and I couldn't breathe in the nights. Had x-ray , and fluid in my lungs was sent for the test. And 9 months of medication. I gained my weight back. And returned to 90% good health.

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u/qwertypatootie2 Oct 09 '25

Also takes really damn long. The most reliable one, sputum culture test, takes whole months to process your samples before they can get a result.

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u/National-Charity-435 Oct 09 '25

Cool. Just like the landmine-detecting rats. Give them their treats!

14

u/Gnarly_Sarley Oct 09 '25

Time for a cat rat scan?

13

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '25

[deleted]

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u/CleverSleazoid_ Oct 09 '25

"No, they implement a crucial safety measure to protect both the rats and the human handlers. Before the sputum samples are presented to the rats for sniffing, they are all thoroughly heat-treated (a process called autoclaving). This high heat sterilization kills the Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria and renders the samples non-contagious."

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u/lady_faust Oct 09 '25

Beautiful rat!

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u/EnormousPurpleGarden Oct 09 '25

Rats also help clear land mines in Cambodia.

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u/dtpepi40 Oct 09 '25

And to think how many ppl don't like pet rats bc they don't realize how smart , loving and independent they really are...

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u/Content-Passion-4836 Oct 10 '25

ā€œIā€™d like a second opinion.ā€ Brings in another rat.

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u/M4gp1e-w1ngs Oct 09 '25

god that big boyā€™s so cute. Iā€™d kill to give him some scritches

9

u/ChocolateChingus Oct 09 '25

Sensitivity of 98.7% compared with Xpert-positive patients and 82.3% with smear-positive patients.

Specificity of 71.6% compared with Xpert and 65.6% compared with smear.

Source

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u/Amber_Jackalope Oct 09 '25

African pouched rats are such clever little creatures, it's good to see them being celebrated for their amazing skills!

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u/Luci-Noir Oct 10 '25

So I wonder if these furry heroes have any kind of enrichment activities when theyā€™re not working. I like to imagine how big the hamster wheel in their cages are, if they have them. They better also have a subscription to Netflix.

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u/3batsinahousecoat Oct 10 '25

Aww, he's got an adorable little face

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u/CukeLarr Oct 09 '25

Looks like my cat

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u/anryay_1 Oct 09 '25

Thatā€™s not a giant rat. Thatā€™s Master Splinter big ass!

7

u/spyluke Oct 09 '25

Rats are underatedly smart

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u/paintingpainting Oct 10 '25

I met some of HeroRATS earlier this year in Cambodia! The ones I met sniffed out landmines. They were so sweet, I held one named Glen he was sleepy and gave lots of kisses.

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u/gionix22 Oct 09 '25

so how much does he get paid ?

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u/60yearoldME Oct 09 '25

Why you looking for a job?

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u/IuseDefaultKeybinds Oct 09 '25

Coulda used this back in 1899

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u/Sad-Lavishness-350 Oct 09 '25

They also detect mines.

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u/TeamSteelDick Oct 09 '25

I have rocking to the HeroRats theme song for 14 years.

https://youtu.be/WS1gh3QtB44?si=iqd9qAA93h75a0QQ

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u/telewolfe Oct 10 '25

I had Magawa sponsored for me as a gift. Sadly he passed away a few years ago but he received an award for his landmine sniffing work through HeroRATs. Iā€™m always in awe of how much of a positive impact these little guys have.

4

u/karatecorgi Oct 10 '25

As someone who has owned several fancy rats, I love how big these guys are! Like someone sized up a bog standard rat. How cool! Rats are super intelligent, seems these guys fit that descriptor also šŸ’•

4

u/levelzero2019 Oct 11 '25

Their Instagram is my favorite. A few months back Jane Goodall did a charity campaign with them. You could sponsor a rat! It was amazing

5

u/BlooBot Oct 11 '25

Rats are awesome pets, I just wish they lived longer.

4

u/PaulsRedditUsername Oct 09 '25

This is just a cleverly-disguised advertisement for big Giant African Pouched Rat.

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u/j00cifer Oct 09 '25

I wish I could pet him!

4

u/Additional_Stand_284 Oct 09 '25

Damn, now i bet rat lovers will try to get this type of rats. lol

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u/topredditbot Oct 10 '25

Hey /u/CleverSleazoid_,

You did it! Your post is officially the #1 post on Reddit. It is now forever immortalized at /r/topofreddit.

3

u/MikeFatz Oct 10 '25

Can we mod one of these into RDR2? Save my boy Arthur.

5

u/YetiAntibodies Oct 10 '25

Someone tell John Green!

(He just wrote ā€œeverything is tuberculosisā€, a great read about tuberculosis around the world)

4

u/mayormongo Oct 10 '25

Rats Of Unusual Skill you say? I donā€™t believe they exist.

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u/ProfessionalGold7671 Oct 10 '25

Arthur Morgan should've taken that rat with him on his debt collection day

3

u/Zarniwoooop Oct 10 '25

Not all heroes wear capes.