All too often rats get a bad rap. They can be vectors of disease, and cities like New York invest heavily in fighting them. But maybe it’s just that we’re not seeing their potential. Once trained, backpack-wearing African giant pouched rats can save lives.

To assist in disaster recovery like an earthquake or building collapse, the nonprofit APOPO trains rats nicknamed “RescueRATs” to get into spaces humans or robots can’t access on their own. These rats wear custom-designed backpacks that provide real-time audio and video streaming as well as two-way communications so rescuers can speak with survivors.

“African giant pouched rats are small and light, so they can move across unstable debris and through narrow gaps without disturbing it,” Lily Shallom, communications manager at APOPO, tells Fast Company. (APOPO is the acronym for the Belgium-based organization’s Flemish name, which translates as Anti-Personnel Landmines Detection Product Development.) “They are also agile and quick, and they have an excellent sense of smell and hearing, which makes them well suited to searching hard-to-reach spaces fast.”

The nonprofit trains rats with positive reinforcement at its training center in Morogoro, Tanzania, using clicker training with food rewards. The rats are taught to work with a handler, move through a rubble-like obstacle course, wear a backpack, and then trigger a signal after locating a human. Rats are smart and motivated by food, and “they learn quickly and enjoy the work,” Shallom says.

APOPO has designed multiple iterations of its backpack since it created the first prototype in 2019.

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