BBC:Rats: Scratch and sniff landmine detection

[Robin Collins]

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20130222-scratch-and-sniff-mine-detectors

Now that gold medals are being nhanded out, how reliable are they? 

"since Apopo’s rats launched into action in 2006, they’ve successfully cleared more than 6 million square meters of Mozambique’s countryside, uncovering 2,406 landmines, 992 bombs, and 13,025 small arms and ammunitions."

[Robert Keeley]

Well I’m not a fan

AFAIK they’ve never been independently evaluated and a trial report issued.

I went to watch them once. They work in boxes about 8m wide and follow a piece of rope. The rope is held by two handlers who have to walk down a 3-4m wide lane either side of the clearance box. That lane has to Be cleared by hand. So for every 8m of frontage a 3-4m of frontage is still cleared manually. The reason that lane is so wide is because it has to accommodate a mechanical brush cutter which has to clear vegetation to a height low enough to allow the rats to work. 

Bob

On 25 Sep 2020, at 19:18, Robin Collins <robi...@gmail.com> wrote:



https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20130222-scratch-and-sniff-mine-detectors

Now that gold medals are being nhanded out, how reliable are they? 

"since Apopo’s rats launched into action in 2006, they’ve successfully cleared more than 6 million square meters of Mozambique’s countryside, uncovering 2,406 landmines, 992 bombs, and 13,025 small arms and ammunitions."

--
--
You have received this message because you are subscribed to the Humanitarian Demining forum - which is a forum for the discussion of all Mine Action topics - ranging from EOD and technical aspects of mines and ERW to field demining, survey, MRE, Advocacy, Campaigning and Victim's Assistance.
 
To post to this group, send an email to demi...@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to
demining-u...@googlegroups.com

---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Humanitarian Demining" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to demining+u...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/demining/CAKes%3DnH%2B-ZJ9AX3cSt7pvqtxKmRVdTbx%2BR1i7LY%3DHJdi3jXPLw%40mail.gmail.com.

[Rae McGrath]

Rats are a detection methodology, they don't clear mines, deminers clear mines. The means of detection - mechanical, electronic, animal or other - is simply a tool used by deminers. RM

Get Outlook for Android

---

From: demi...@googlegroups.com <demi...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Robin Collins <robi...@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, September 25, 2020 6:18:32 PM
To: DEMINING <demi...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [HD] BBC:Rats: Scratch and sniff landmine detection

 

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20130222-scratch-and-sniff-mine-detectors

Now that gold medals are being nhanded out, how reliable are they? 

"since Apopo’s rats launched into action in 2006, they’ve successfully cleared more than 6 million square meters of Mozambique’s countryside, uncovering 2,406 landmines, 992 bombs, and 13,025 small arms and ammunitions."

--

[Robin Collins]

Indeed, my original wording made that point, thinking the paragraph referred to rats do the clearing. Arguably Apopo enabled clearance, so I just posted. "They" refers to Apopo. And presumably Apopo isn't a clearance agency.  

But more interesting is the claimed reliability of detection by these large rats. 

R. 

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/demining/AM7P191MB07283378D4AF56779ABA11C6DF360%40AM7P191MB0728.EURP191.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM.

[Robin Collins]

This was the news item that generated that outburst: Magawa the Mine-Sniffing Rat Receives Award for Bravery in Cambodia https://nyti.ms/2Hxt4yr