In this TED Talk, Bart Weetjens explains how he and his team from Apopo are using operant conditioning to train African giant pouched rats (Cricetomys gambianus) to sniff out and signal land mines and TB infections:

HeroRAT in action. Go to Apopo

Visit the resources at Apopo’s pages to find out more about why these rats are chosen in favour of other species and how the training programme works. You could also adopt your own rat to support their work. There are more videos from Apopo on their website or on their YouTube channel.

IB Biology Links:

• E3 Innate and Learned Behaviour
• E2 Perception of Stimuli (why are the rats so good at it?)