The Gambian pouched rat is not a rat. Rather, it is not what those of us in the ‘Western World’ think of when we think of rats. Cricetomys gambianusm, the technical name for the pouched rat, are the largest muroidea, have pouches in their cheeks, and are native to most parts of Africa. Further more, they are not domesticated as our ‘brown rats’ are; these are wild animals that are sometimes kept as pets, and more recently used at work animals.
Image via Wikipedia
The wars in Africa have left the people with man problems, many of them very hard to solve. Finding and disabling landmines is among one of the most dangerous and important issues faced by the African people. Dogs have long been trained to do this sort of work, but dogs are big, weigh enough to set off the mines, expensive to train and to house, and well you start to see the issues. APOPO is a group that has come up with a way to handle these issues, giant pouched rats.
These African counter parts to the brown rat are seen in much the same light as rodents the world over: dirty, disease carries, and little destroyers. It can be hard to get people to see them for what they really are, to convince people rats are not the enemy; fleas were the real culprit in the Black Plague tragedy. It is just as hard to deny the amazing work that the giant rats have done though, and the creatures are slowly making a name for themselves as Heros, the APOPO calls their rat unit just that, HeroRATs.
It is an apt name for them, they have proved to be an effective way to clear the landscape of mines. Elliot C. McLaughlin writes for CNN on Sept 8th 2010;
In 2008 and 2009, about 30 state-accredited HeroRATs, their noses a twitter, scampered across more than a million square meters of Mozambican land, ferreting out almost 400 mines and other ordnance. The U.N. says 9.6 million square meters still needed to be cleared in 2009.
That is nothing to be brushed away because the creatures doing the sniffing are rodents, and only goes to show that they are helpful misunderstood animals. The rats take less time to train, are cheaper to feed and house, and are also immune to many of the diseases that dogs suffer from in Africa. This last point is due to the pouched rats being native to the areas they are working in Africa. The HeroRATs are not a replacement for dogs, but a wonderful compliment.
It doesn’t stop there APOPO is also training their rats to detect tuberculosis and to work as search and rescue animals. There seem to be many ways that man can benefit from a symbiotic relationship with these small intelligent creatures.
Image via Wikipedia
When I read the CNN article I thought to myself, ‘Geez, wouldn’t it be neat to have one of these little dears as a pet?’ I then looked over at my two handsome little brown rats and tried to imagine them much bigger, with cheek pouches full of nuts and so on. It was very easy to found some basic information on keeping the giant gambian rats as pets.
It seems that they have been kept as pets in the U.S. and U.K. for some time. They are even considered an invasive species in some parts of the States, mainly in Florida. Somehow, enough of the little guys got loose down in the Florida Keys and Grassy Key to form a breeding population. There is a real worry that they might somehow reach the Everglades and from there much of the rest of the United states. They would compete with indigenous wild life for food and could wreak havoc on the native ecosystem. They were also thought to be carriers for, and responsible for, the 2003 monkey pox out break and were banned in America from that point tell 2008. While they can now be owned here in the states they cannot be imported. (Wiki Source) I would guess that later on we could see an increase in genetic issues in the U.S. population of Gambian rats due to the limited gene pool. I didn’t read anything about that in my research though.
As far as actually getting one, well I don’t think I will be any time soon. Giant pouched rats need a lot more space than little brown rats. They are also wild animals and absolutely require daily handling and play time, no question about that. They are also far bigger than brown rats measuring in at about two feet long and weighing four lbs. (Source) That is a lot of rat. They are not the sort of pet you can leave unattended for any amount of time, and I can’t think of anyone I know who would make a good sitter for one should I want to go away for a weekend. However, they have such adorable faces, and sound like truly rewarding pets. I have always said I want a bigger rat, that I want to be able to walk my rat, and so forth. So does my future hold giant HeroRATs in it? With a seven-year life span it’s a rather tempting choice so I say maybe, I’m not ruling them out.
Rats are amazing little creatures, animals that many people still see as dirty or mean. In the wild, yes rats will bite, but they do that to protect themselves, not out of spite or malice. Those are complex emotions that humans have, not something that gentle animals understand. Rats make wonderful companions, and the brown rat is a rather forgiving pet with a three-year life span that makes them a wonderful first pet. So while I don’t suggest you run out and get a gambian, I do suggest you give thought to adopting a brown rat. Perhaps that’s another blog.
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