Although it is debatable whether the African giant rat is cute or not, no one can deny the impressive power of its nose.

Tanzania-based nonprofit APOPO has already demonstrated the ability of the cat-sized rodents, which it calls “HeroRATs,” to spot landmines, tuberculosis and even survivors among the rubble in disaster zones.

But now the organization is turning its attention (and its rat noses) to the global illegal wildlife trade, CNN reports.

It is estimated to be worth up to $23 billion annually. Wildlife trafficking is the world’s fourth largest illegal trade industry – after the trafficking of ‘monkey’ products, drugs and people.

“Wildlife is considered a low-risk commodity,” says Crawford Allan, vice president for wildlife crime at WWF USA, who has more than 30 years of experience in wildlife crime. “Unfortunately, organized crime knows that there is a real weak point in their methods of detecting ports, seaports and airports, particularly in Africa.”

Traffickers manage to “cover” wildlife products in a number of ways, he explains. Ivory, for example, can be stained to look like wood, hidden inside crop shipments and even cut into chocolate-coated pieces and wrapped in packaging – all in an attempt to “slip” through visual checks and x-ray detectors.

Smelling the crime

This is exactly what rats and their keen sense of smell can help with. According to new research led by APOPO and published in Frontiers in Conservation Science, rats were successfully trained in a research facility to smell elephant tusks, rhino horns, pangolin scales (which cover its skin) and African ebony – which the Allan, who is not involved in the research, says they are some of the most common wildlife products trafficked from Africa.

Dr Izzy Szott, a behavioral researcher leading the project, suggests using rats as a “complementary tool”. Dogs are already being used to detect wildlife smuggling. Being “very small and agile,” rats have the upper hand in a densely packed container, he explains.

Unlike dogs, rats are willing to work with multiple trainers and, largely because of their smaller size, are much cheaper to train, maintain and transport, Szott claims. This is particularly important given that much of the illegal wildlife trade comes from some of the world’s poorest regions.

Allan identifies cost as the main issue in tracking trafficked wildlife products, arguing that “we need to find some cheaper, more sustainable solutions to track” them in Africa. He adds that improving detection methods increases the risk to illegal wildlife traders – which, in turn, raises trade prices and shrinks demand. “I’m hoping that (using rats) to detect wildlife will be a low-cost, high-impact, low-footprint venture,” Allan says.

Kate Webb, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University in North Carolina and one of the lead authors of the study, tells CNN that one of the biggest advantages of using rats is their relatively short training time. “There has also been interest in wildlife detection rats from Singapore and France,” she added.

How do they notify when they find the findings?

Testing these research findings in the real world, APOPO last year conducted a proof-of-concept study at the port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, which handles 95% of the country’s international trade. APOPO says the rats found over 83% of the planted targets, even when the objects were hidden and impregnated with scented products. Once a rat recognizes a target, it alerts its trainer by using its front paws to pull a small ball attached to a custom-made neoprene vest, which makes a sound.

Illegal wildlife trade not only affects the populations of the animals or plants being trafficked, but can have devastating consequences for entire ecosystems. Studies show that consuming illegally traded wildlife can also lead to the spread of zoonotic diseases, such as Ebola, monkeypox and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

Smart, curious students

African giant rats have an average lifespan of about 8 years, so training them for a year is a worthwhile long-term investment, Szott says. The year includes training Monday through Friday, regularly interspersed with playtime in a large playhouse filled with rope and wheel toys.

Rats’ high level of intelligence and curiosity make them good learners, he explains: “If you need to get them to do something new, you just throw them in there (in a training area) and wait for them to figure it out. “

Like people, each rat has a different character, he adds: “You have animals that get it right on the first try, and you may have animals that take a little time, but then become absolute superstars once they figure it out.”

Although this research is still in its early stages, APOPO hopes it will develop in a similar fashion to its previous projects. The team plans to conduct further operational trials with the trained rats at Dar es Salaam port and airport. The next steps will focus on optimizing growth strategies – looking at how the rats perform when under high demand, Szott says.

She is confident that the rats are up to the challenge, stating that what they have shown so far in rats, they did.