A serious & controversial news story came out today. I don't know how I feel about it...

A university in Sri Lanka is working on a method to remove land mines from former war areas by tethering a robot to a dwarf mongoose, which can be trained to sniff out explosives.

On one hand, we see images on the news of how old leftover land mines kill or maim so many people each year, especially children, so a solution should be a good thing.

On the other hand, why do they have to risk using mongooses? Why not drive just the robots themselves over the landmines. If it blows up; nothing dies. I guess the cost of replacing exploding robots is more expensive than replacing mongooses. Such a shame; I feel so conflicted.

Here's the news story's link.

Here's a video of the tethered mongoose.

This program is similar to the programs in Africa using rats. "Cheap, intelligent and, crucially, lightweight, rats are being trained in Tanzania to sniff out landmines and explosives. ...The rats are about 75 centimetres long (30 inches) and weigh about 1.35 kilograms (3 lbs). This means they can scamper across a minefield without detonating the charges."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3123119.stm

Dogs have also been used. Are they light enough?

I personally find the entire process abhorent, no matter the animal. I know who I would like to see on the minefields!

Catz, I saw that program about the Rats. I'am with you, totaly abhorent. Now they are using the mongoose? Horrible, if Man had not put the mines in, in the first place, they wouldn't have to experiment with the lifes of these little creatures. It is very sad. To me it is a fine example of mans exploitation of animals.

WestCoast, I understand your conflict, guess their is no easy solution.

I didn't know that a 3 pound rat is (generally) too light to trip a landmine. Dwarf Mongooses weigh about a pound, so I would feel a little better knowing that a mongoose won't automatically set off an explosion if it wasn't for the heavy robot it's tethered to.

And where did these 3 pound, 2.5 ft long rats come from? EEK!!!

I have heard about the rats, which I still think is sick, but not a mongoose. Ccatz, I too have a few suggestions for substitute mine trippers.

3 pound rats!!!!Yikes...

quote:

And where did these 3 pound, 2.5 ft long rats come from? EEK!!!

Chicago. LOL...just kidding...sort of.

There is NO doubt in my mind. This is reprehensible! There must be tons of technology out there can do this without taking the life of an innocent animal. Yes, the land mines MUST be removed, but not at the expense of a life. Any life.

These giant rats are also able to detect(sniff)TB.

While I am a confirmed animal lover, I think that this is the best solution so far - there are so many mines in these countries and the rats work much faster than the robots can. I hadn't heard about the mongoose, but one of the guys at the EEF-BEE-EYE explosives training center told me that they actually do put protective covers on the rats to protect them even though they are too light to set the mines off; weird trivia - some mine survivors are actually so light they are thrown by the blast, and not injured. That's part of the theory about the small animals. Just no better answer than that, too many children getting killed in these places while better methods are being thought up.

From what I read in the articles it doesn't seem as though the animals are actually harmed in the process of finding these landmines. If this is true then these animals are performing a very valuable service to mankind, much like guide dogs or other service animals.
Dmoo, correct me if I am wrong, but don't landmines have a "trip" type of device that must be depressed and then released in order for the mine to explode? It doesn't seem as though these rats are heavy enough to do this. I could be wrong but it does not seem as though the rats are in danger.

It sounds appalling; I hope the animals are not harmed.

Cody, you are correct, most mines do have the triggering device you describe. These things are generally laid out in a kind of a 'carpet' at set distances. The US has specific patterns we use so we can recover them. We also have ways to clear them by destroying them in place. Other countries may be more random, so this is one of the fastest simplest ways to find them all. The robots are too cumbersome and waaay too slow.

I don't say this is the absolutely best way, just the best way found so far. The animals are really too small to set the things off, and are incredibly more accurate. I agree that it's horrendous that we have to use animals this way.

This certainly is a serious subject.


I say they should use the robots ONLY to detect land minds

Mongeese today, meerkats tomorrow?

If the mongeese volunteer, ok. Otherwise, no. We have no right to exploit other species like that.

quote:

Originally posted by west_coast_meerkat:
A serious & controversial news story came out today. I don't know how I feel about it...

A university in Sri Lanka is working on a method to remove land mines from former war areas by tethering a robot to a dwarf mongoose, which can be trained to sniff out explosives.

On one hand, we see images on the news of how old leftover land mines kill or maim so many people each year, especially children, so a solution should be a good thing.

On the other hand, why do they have to risk using mongooses? Why not drive just the robots themselves over the landmines. If it blows up; nothing dies. I guess the cost of replacing exploding robots is more expensive than replacing mongooses. Such a shame; I feel so conflicted.

Here's the news story's link.

Here's a video of the tethered mongoose.

I agree with you! they should not risk the lives of innocent animals! no animal should be put through that kind of torture!

yes no animal torture and meerkats are a type of small moongoose so they might start useing them that will be sad like the rest of this news

there are specially trained dogs to do that! They sit down when they smell a mine so they dont get hurt but a mongoose??? They probably arent trained for this!!! Cheaper than dogs or not mongoose just arent right for the job.

Welcome to the forum, Lilly.

Welcome Lillymeerkat! Since this topic came up here, I've been doing a bit of "insider" research - I went to some of the guys that I know are doing this kind of work here on post. They say that the dogs can actually trip some of the mines; it has to do with how the animal moves. A mongoose is closer to the ground and can avoid many of the usual boobytrapped mines, and the obvilous weight difference has been a deciding factor as to which animals are used.

Some of these guys have seen the rats in action, but had only heard of using the mongoose. They also brought up the point of which country is using which animal. Americans are training rats, because they are quote "cheap, plentiful and dang smart". They apparently also have a better nose than dogs. They speculated that the people using the mongoose are are doing so for the same reason - it is more plentiful in their country, and we all know they are plenty smart.

And to their credit, only a couple were surprized when I told them of the general disapproval by animal lovers. Those two muttered something about "PETA...". The rest all said they had pets and were hoping for a better way to eliminate the need for this. And several got kinda excited when I said it was some meerkat lovers discussing this - they even knew all about our queen, Flower!